Sunesis Shares Drop As Biotech Drops Leukemia Drug Marketing Application

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Monday after the tiny biotech said it pulled a European marketing application for a leukemia treatment. Shares of South San Francisco, Calif.-based Sunesis fell 18% to $3 in after-hours trading. The company said recent interactions with the European Medicine Agency suggested that the regulatory body was likely to adopt a negative opinion of the drug vosaroxin for the treatment of a type of leukemia in patients who were 60 years or older. Sunesis said it was reducing resources for its leukemia research and shifting them to other areas.