Cogent Biosciences Stock Surges 136%. Investors See Promise in Its Cancer Drug.

Cogent Biosciences said the combination of bezuclastinib with sunitinib was ”well tolerated” by patients. (Dreamstime)

Key Points

• Cogent Biosciences stock surged 127% after reporting positive Phase 3 trial results for its cancer drug.
• The drug, combining bezuclastinib with sunitinib, achieved a median progression-free survival of 16.5 months.
• This marks the first positive Phase 3 trial in second-line GIST patients in more than 20 years.

Cogent Biosciences stock more than doubled on Monday after the biotech company reported positive trial results for an investigational cancer drug.

Cogent said its treatment, combining bezuclastinib with sunitinib, reached a median progression-free survival of 16.5 months, versus 9.2 months for sunitinib alone. The combined treatment was “well tolerated,” the company said.

Progression-free survival represents how long during and after treatment a patient lives with a disease but doesn’t get worse. The metric is commonly used to evaluate the efficacy of cancer drugs.

Cogent is developing a treatment for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), soft-tissue growths that commonly arise in the small intestine and stomach. The population in focus is patients who have shown resistance to imatinib, an oral medication.

The latest results mark the first positive Phase 3 trial in second-line GIST patients, people who receive a new treatment after the first one fails, in more than 20 years, the company said.

Shares surged more than 136%, heading for the highest close since Oct. 23, 2018, when Cogent ended the session at $35.56. The S&P 500 index was 1.3% higher.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com