Juno Therapeutics Inc. plunged by a record 27 percent after three patients died in a trial for its lead cancer therapy and U.S. regulators put the study on hold, raising questions about the risks and tradeoffs of a new and very aggressive approach to treating cancer.
Two adult patients died last week after a chemotherapy drug called fludarabine was added to the treatment regimen for a therapy known as JCAR015, Seattle-based Juno said Thursday in a statement. Another patient, who also received the fludarabine pre-conditioning treatment, had died at the end of May. The treatment was being tested in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that affects the immune system.
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