Ziopharm Oncology: Pump Up the Volume

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP Quote) shares rallied sharply higher Wednesday on above-average volume after the company reported positive data from a trial of its Zymafos drug for treating patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma.

Ziopharm Oncology said that as a result of reaching a key efficacy milestone in the mid-stage trial for Zymafos, also known as palifosfamide, the company decided to formally stop enrollment in the trial Tuesday.

Shares of Ziopharm Oncology were jumping by 61 cents, or 21.1%, to $3.50. Earlier in the session, the stock touched an intraday and new 52-week high of $4. More than 752,000 shares changed hands in the first 40 minutes of trading, compared to the stock's 50-day average daily volume of 97,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Ziopharm Oncology has a 20.8 million-share float with a short interest float of only 0.1% as of Sept. 25, according to Yahoo! Finance. More than 36% of the company's shares are held by insiders with another 14% owned by institutions.

Read more about today's high-volume stocks in earlier "Pump Up the Volume" posts.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.