Galena's breast cancer vaccine gets exclusivity until 2028

Galena Biopharma said its breast cancer vaccine received a patent granting it exclusivity until 2028, sending its shares up as much as 35 percent.

The vaccine, NeuVax, gives immunity against the relapse of breast cancer in patients who have low-to-intermediate levels of HER2 - a protein that can affect the growth of cancer cells.

NeuVax is being tested in a late-stage study under a special protocol assessment agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Once approved, it will be administered as an injection once a month for six months, followed by a booster injection once every six months.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 230,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, the company said.

Portland, Oregon-based Galena's shares were up 19 percent at $2.04 in morning trading on Wednesday. The stock, which touched a near four-month high of $2.30 earlier, was one of the top gainers on the Nasdaq.

Researchers at Houston-based M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported promising results from an experimental new breast cancer vaccine.

The vaccine, one of many now in testing, significantly decreased the recurrence rate of breast cancer in women who had been treated for a common tumor type, according to a study led by The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The new vaccine triggers the patient's immunity against a tumor protein, known as HER2, present to some extent in 75 percent to 80 percent of breast cancers. The vaccine reduced breast cancer recurrence in women who had both high and low levels of HER2.

The vaccine is one of three undergoing M.D. Anderson trials, including one that stimulates the immune system to fight breast cancer in women with active tumors, the Chronicle reports.

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(Reuters)