NeoRx Shares Double After Cancer Report

Shares of NeoRx Corp., a Seattle biotechnology company working on ways to improve radiation treatment of cancer, more than doubled Monday after a medical journal said the firm’s technology cured cancer in certain mice.

The stock (ticker symbol: NERX) jumped $32.94 to close at $54.75 on Nasdaq, and pumped up other biotech shares as well. On Nasdaq, Imclone Systems (IMCL) surged $14.69 to $169.13, and Visible Genetics (VGIN) gained $11.50 to $110.

NeoRx said that a medical journal published results last month of a company study showing that its Pretarget radiation system destroyed tumors in all 10 mice with human lung cancer and eight of 10 mice with human breast cancer.

Still, analysts cautioned that the research is at an early stage. The firm expects to begin testing the treatment in humans this year.

“People have been able to cure cancer in mice before. That’s not a big deal,” said Dayton Misfeldt, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners. “They still need a lot of validation from human trials.”