New drug shown to delay spread of prostate cancer

German drug maker Bayer and Finland’s Orion said on Wednesday a study showed a prostate cancer drug they are jointly developing can delay the spread of the disease to other parts of the body, boosting Orion’s shares.

A study on men with non-metastatic prostate cancer that could not be helped with hormonal therapy met the primary goal of showing oral drug darolutamide can delay the spread of metastases, the companies said in a statement.

Shares in Orion, which sold certain rights to the drug in a collaboration deal with Bayer in 2014, were up 7.5 percent at 0740 GMT, while Bayer’s shares were down 0.8 percent.

Full details of the trials will be presented at a medical conference, Bayer said.

Bayer added it would now speak to health authorities about a possible request for marketing approval of darolutamide, a compound that was granted “fast track” designation by the US Food and Drug Administration in the prostate cancer setting, potentially speeding the approval process.

Bayer shares slumped on Tuesday after a US judge affirmed a verdict against its Monsanto unit that found glyphosate-based weedkillers responsible for a man’s terminal cancer.