Synta halts study of Lung Cancer treatment

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp has decided to end a late-stage trial of its lung cancer treatment after an independent review said it proved ineffective, nearly halving its stock in extended trading on Tuesday.
Lexington, Massachusetts-based Synta's shares were down 46.6 percent at $1.09 after the bell.
The late stage study aimed to see if a combination of its drug ganetespib with chemotherapy drug docetaxel would work better than docetaxel alone for advanced non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma.
The company said it stopped the trials on the recommendation of an independent data-monitoring committee, which said the combination of the two drugs was unlikely to show significant improvement in overall survival compared to docetaxel alone.