Onyx Data Deliver the Goods

CHICAGO -- Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX Quote) has a groundbreaking liver cancer drug.

Patients with advanced liver cancer given the company's drug Nexavar lived almost three months -- or 44% -- longer than patients given a placebo, according to results from a phase III trial announced Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

"This is the first time that we've had an effective systemic treatment for liver cancer," said Dr. Joseph Llovet of New York's Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and the principal investigator of the study.

Onyx and its partner, German drug firm Bayer, had announced in February that the Nexavar liver cancer study, dubbed SHARP, was stopped early for efficacy. But the companies kept the details of the study -- including the specifics of the survival benefit -- under wraps until now.

Onyx shares have jumped 150% since that February announcement, closing Friday at $30.88.

Predicting the Nexavar survival advantage in liver cancer has been a favorite Wall Street parlor game since the February announcement, with most guesses ranging from one to four months.

Nexavar is already marketed as a treatment for kidney cancer, with current worldwide sales on a $240 million annual run rate, based on first-quarter sales of $61 million. But Nexavar's growth in kidney cancer is limited due to competition, mainly from Pfizer's(PFE Quote) Sutent drug.