Medivation Shares Doubled: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Medivation (NAS: MDVN) have more than doubled today, up by as much as an astronomical 135%, after the company announced its prostate cancer drug has proven effective.

So what: The biotech company announced that a phase 3 clinical trial showed that its drug candidate MDV3100 successfully met the study's pre-specified interim efficacy stopping criteria. The drug demonstrated a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared to placebo.

Now what: MDV3100 showed a median overall survival advantage of 4.8 months and provided a 37% reduction in risk of death. Medivation is looking to meet with U.S. regulators early next year to discuss filing for regulatory approval, with analysts expecting approval in early 2013 that could promise annual revenue north of $1 billion. The news is also contributing to a sharp sell-off in rival Dendreon (NAS: DNDN) , which offers prostate cancer drug Provenge that has been facing sales headwinds.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Evan Niu holds no position in any company mentioned. Click here to see his holdings and a short bio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Dendreon. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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