Oncternal Therapeutics Closes 2 Studies Of Zilovertamab; Stock Tanks 40%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. (ONCT) slipped 40% in extended hours on Monday after the company announced that Zilovertamab phase 3 study ZILO-301 and phase 1/2 study CIRM-0001 to be closed based on dynamically changing therapeutic landscape.

The Phase 3 study and the Phase 1/2 study of zilovertamab in combination with ibrutinib will be closed, and other project and indirect expenses will be reduced, resulting in extending the expected cash runway into 2025, the company said in a statement.

The company plans the projected cash runway will support its clinical advancement of two pipeline assets ONCT-808 and ONCT-534.

"It is an extremely difficult decision to halt the clinical development of zilovertamab in combination with ibrutinib for patients with hematologic malignancies," said James Breitmeyer, M.D., Ph.D., Oncternal's President and CEO. "The dramatic adoption of recently approved Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors made the continued development of zilovertamab with ibrutinib an unviable commercial opportunity. The decision was not based on any concerns about the safety or efficacy of zilovertamab. Going forward we will focus on reaching clinical proof of concept and data catalysts from the clinical trials of ONCT-808 in patients with resistant aggressive lymphoma, and ONCT-534 in patients with prostate cancer resistant to standard of care androgen receptor inhibitors."