Medarex's Quick Study

You know the old saying, "three's a trend"? Well, not for Medarex (Stock Quote: MEDX). They only need two.

The biotech company's stock rocketed higher Monday after it was reported that two men saw their tumors shrink dramatically in a study of its experimental prostate cancer drug. Shares of Princeton, N.J.-based Medarex opened at $8.88 Monday morning, over 20% higher than their Friday closing price of $7.36. The stock finished the session at $8.28, a 12.5% jump, even as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq respectively shed almost 3%.

The news was first released Friday in the online research magazine issued by the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minn., which is co-sponsoring a study of Medarex's antibody-based drug Ipilimumab. Medarex took the news and ran with it, posting a press release Monday about the article on its Web site, prompting the stock's surge.

What Medarex neglected to say, however, is what happened to the other 106 people participating in the trial. Forgive us for being petty, but it seems like pretty pertinent information.

We here at the Five Dumbest Lab (no relation to the Mayo Clinic in case you were wondering) are immensely pleased that the two cancer patients involved in the study have, according to the press release, "resumed their regular lives." But researchers normally do not make public data until a study has been concluded and all the data painstakingly analyzed.

Furthermore, studies typically contrast patients getting a new treatment with a different group receiving a standard treatment or a placebo. In this case, the press release said nothing about how this study was conducted.

We just hope these "preliminary" results turn permanent and the treatment offers lasting relief to the folks who need it -- and we don't mean the shareholders who were treated to a temporary spike courtesy of an irresponsible press release.

Dumb-o-meter score: 90 -- The Mayo Clinic's next study? Figuring out how to pronounce Ipilimumab.

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