CytRx shares climb as FDA lifts research hold on potential cancer treatment aldoxorubicin

Shares of CytRx jumped Tuesday before markets opened after the drug developer said regulators have lifted a restriction placed on research into aldoxorubicin, a potential treatment for several forms of cancer.

The Los Angeles company said enrollment and the treating of new patients is now permitted after the Food and Drug Administration removed a partial clinical hold it had placed on studies.

CytRx said it modified its research so it could avoid risks to patients and still study the drug's impact on several forms of cancer. It expects to start enrolling and treating patients after its revised trial protocols receive approval.

Aldoxorubicin combines the chemotherapy doxorubicin with a molecule that binds to albumin, the most common protein in the bloodstream. Tumors build concentrations of albumin, and that helps deliver the chemotherapy to the tumor, where it is released. CytRx said this allows for bigger doses of the chemotherapy to be used while reducing side effects on patients.

CytRx expects to finish by the end of this year enrollment in a late-stage study of the drug as a potential treatment for soft-tissue sarcoma, a cancer that occurs in muscle, fat, blood vessels, tendons and other tissue. It also is studying the drug as a potential treatment for an advanced form of brain cancer, lung cancer and Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer that can develop from blood vessel cells.

CytRx Corp. stock soared nearly 11 percent, or 36 cents, to $3.68 in premarket trading.