Rubius Therapeutics surges 84% on encouraging results from early-stage testing of cancer treatment

• Rubius Therapeutics shares surged 84% during Monday's trading session.
• The biotech firm outlined encouraging data from testing of RTX-240, a potential cancer treatment.
• Rubius said data collected provide initial proof-of-concept of its red blood cells generation system Red Platform.

Rubius Therapeutics shares more than doubled during Monday's session after investors received the biotech firm's outline of results from early-stage tests of a potential cancer drug.

The company said data from an ongoing clinical trial of patients with advanced solid tumors contributed to providing initial proof-of-concept for its platform to generate red blood cells.

Shares of Rubius jumped as much as 136% to $38.71 then trimmed closed the session up by 84%. Trading was heavy, with volume of nearly 38 million shares outrunning the average daily volume of about 1.5 million shares.

Among the data from an ongoing phase 1/2 trial of RTX-240, the company's cellular therapy product candidate, there was a 54% reduction in target lesions in a patient with metastatic anal cancer.

Rubius said the data collected "provide clinical validation" of its Red Platform red blood cells generation system, said Pablo Cagnoni, chief executive at Rubius, in a statement.

With "encouraging" initial safety and preliminary efficacy data for RTX-240, he said the company plans to initiate a phase 2 expansion cohort in the first quarter of 2022 and a new phase 1 arm of the RTX-240 trial to evaluate it in combination with another therapy during the second half of 2021.