Advaxis shares soar after FDA lifts clinical hold

Two months after the FDA forced a halt to the development work at Advaxis ($ADXS) following the death of a patient in its cancer vaccine study, the biotech says it has a green light to get back on track. The company's shares soared on the news, jumping 32% in midmorning trading. The clinical hold was prompted after a patient taking axalimogene filolisbac (ADXS-HPV) tested positive for a strain of Lm [Listeria monocytogenes] used in the vaccine. She was treated but later died. The clinical hold also included the INDs for ADXS-PSA and ADXS-HER2. The biotech says that it added some risk mitigation strategies to its study, "including revised study protocol inclusion / exclusion criteria, post-administration antibiotic treatment and patient surveillance and monitoring measures." Release