Novogen stocks soar following successful study

Novogen (ASX:NRT) stocks have soared over 200% following a study that found its experimental drug CS-6 can kill not only cancer cells but also cancer stem cells.

Shares in Novogen (ASX:NRT) were launched into the stratosphere today, rising over 200% from 9c to 26c in high-volume trading following the announcement that the company’s experimental anticancer drug CS-6 appears to kill not just regular ovarian cancer cells but also cancer stem cells.

The study, conducted by Mazor Oncology in the United States, raises the prospect that CS-6 could be used to target the typically highly resistance cancer stem cells, which are thought to cause relapse.

CS-6 was acquired by Novogen from Triaxial, the company established by Novogen founder Professor Graham Kelly, who recently returned to take the post of CEO and take the technology developed by Triaxial to the clinic.

“Our primary goal remains to develop CS-6 as a treatment for glioblastoma multiforme [GBM], the main form of brain cancer,” said Kelly. “Today’s news raises two important matters.

“The first is that it shows that we have the opportunity to develop CS-6 against ovarian cancer which, like GBM, is another deadly disease for which an effective long-term therapy is yet to be found.

“The second matter is the hope that CS-6 might also be effective against the cancer stem cells that we know exist in brain cancer.”

There are currently no approved therapies that can target ovarian cancer, glioma and kill cancer stem cells.

“It is important to point out that this is early days and we have some way to go before we will have clinical evidence, but there is no doubt that this news elevates CS-6 and the super-benzopyran family of drugs to which it belongs into an entirely new clinical dimension where we hope it will be possible to provide a comprehensive cancer treatment,” said Kelly.