Cell Genesys Inc. (CEGE) said Friday its GVAX immunotherapy treatment for recurrent prostate cancer did well in early stage clinical tests. Shares of the San Francisco, Calif.-based company were up nearly 4% to a high of $3.25 during late-day trading.

Data from the trial, which enrolled 19 patients, indicate that GVAX helped 79% of the patients boost antibodies. In addition, the drug was generally well tolerated, with the most common side effects being injection-site reactions in most patients and mild flu-like symptoms in some patients, according to Cell Genesys.

“We are now planning a larger randomized trial to further examine the potential application of GVAX immunotherapy in this patient population and also look forward to learning more from a study currently under way that is evaluating the product in combination with docetaxel as a preoperative therapy in men with high-risk prostate cancer,” said Robert J. Dow, MBChB, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Cell Genesys.

Results of the trial were to be presented at the annual meeting of the Tumor Vaccine and Cell Therapy Working Group being held in San Diego, California, in conjunction with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.

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