Boston, MA 10/29/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Shares of Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ:SNTA) plummeted to as low as $5.10 hours after the USA-based drug manufacturer presented positive one-year follow-up results from its GALAXY-1 trial of its ambitious anti-cancer innovation Ganetespib at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Sydney, Australia. GALAXY-1 is Synta Pharmaceutical’s (Synta) ambitious global, randomized, multi-center study started in May 2011 and designed to identify patients with advanced non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma and most likely to benefit from second-line treatment with Synta’s major and promising drug prototype, the Hsp90 inhibitor Ganetespib, when combined with Docetaxel as compared to docetaxel alone. Ganetespib is a selective second-generation inhibitor drug for the cancer-chaperone high shock protein Hsp90, quintessential for the activation and stability of proteins that stimulate cancer growth and proliferation. Ganetespib has been extensively studied and has shown durable objective responses, including complete responses and near-complete responses when used alone as mono-therapy administration in patients with several different types of late-stage cancer. With a current market capitalization of over $352 million, Synta’s progressive approach as a biopharmaceutical firm focused on treating severe and life-critical conditions, including cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases.
Meanwhile, Synta investors were presented with new call and put options this week, with December 21 expiration. Analysts say the put contract at the $6.00 strike price has a lucrative current bid of 55 cents and for investors looking to purchase Synta shares, this would mean an attractive alternative to paying the current $6.85 per share today. With about 12% discounts over the current trading price, analysts opine that it could be a good deal to bet on. Synta’s shares have seen heavy downward movement over the past two months, falling from their two-month high $7.15 registered on June 29 to the latest record low of $5.10 recorded a few hours ago during after-hours trading on October 28. Over 8.23 million shares exchanged hands during after-hours trading on the same day.
