Coulter's Bexxar Data Sends Shares Up

Californian biotechnology company Coulter Pharmaceutical will presentpositive data on Bexxar, its radiolabeled monoclonal antibody for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December. Shares in the company were up 24% to $3.63 on the day of the announcement.

Last month, Coulter said that preliminary data from its Phase II trial showed that Bexxar outperformed the unlabeled version of the same monoclonal antibody in patients with low-grade NHL.

At the upcoming conference, Coulter is expected to report that tumors shrank more than 50% in 60% of heavily pretreated advanced-stage NHL patients, and that tumors became undetectable in 27% of those treated, according to Kevin Tang of BT Alex Brown. He reiterated his buy rating on the company, and gave it a 12-month price target of $29 per share.