OncoMed Pharma Stock Drops 45% After Midstage Clinical Trial Miss; Bayer Opting Not To License Two Drugs

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares dropped 44.6% in premarket trade Monday after news that the company's midstage pancreatic cancer trial had missed its primary endpoint and that Bayer AG ADR would not be using its option to license two of OncoMed's cancer drugs. OncoMed said that its demcizumab, part of a partnership with Celgene Corp. , was being tested with two chemotherapy drugs in previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer. The company said it will be discontinuing the clinical trial after Monday's results. OncoMed said it will also discontinue enrollment in other ongoing trials for demcizumab and examine the data. OncoMed also said Monday that Bayer would not be licensing two other drugs, vantictumab and ipafricept, "for strategic reasons," and that OncoMed will keep the global development and commercialization rights to both drugs starting in June. OncoMed said it has fully funded development of both drugs -- which are phase 2-ready, it said -- with the more than $90 million it got from the partnership. OncoMed was eligible for up to $387.5 million per program, or $775 million for both drugs, according to its website. OncoMed shares were valued at $8.76 as of Friday's close. Shares have risen 0.1% over the last three months, compared with a 3.8% rise in the S&P 500 .