Biz Brief: Micromet Stock Rises on Cancer Drug Trial Results

Micromet (MITI) shares traded some 3.3% higher on Monday after the small-cap biotech announced that its lead product candidate blinatumomab (MT103) led to remission in almost four-fifths of leukemia patients in a Phase II trial. It also said that a Phase I trial showed the drug induced durable remission in patients with another blood cancer: non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Micromet is working on immunotherapies -- treatments that aim to trigger the body's own immune system to act against cancer without using toxic chemicals. The company has developed a way to activate T-cells, a type of white blood cells that protect the body against infection, to recognize and attack tumors.

Despite its having no medicines on the market, the 17-year-old company's cancer-fighting technology has attracted attention from large pharmaceuticals. Already, it has signed deals with Bayer (BAYRY), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), AstraZeneca (AZN), Germany's Merck (MRK) and Boehringer, Bloomberg reports.