Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBLA), shares surged in the pre-market trading as it jumped 37.88% to reach $6.03 in the pre-market session, following a clinical-stage biotech corporation, has finalized patient registration in its Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and tolerability of SBP-101 when used in conjunction with the traditional treatment agents gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic disease (PDA).

The research, which involved the dose escalation process and the dose extension phase, used 50 patients, 30 of whom were treated using the dose and plan for the randomized combination trial versus gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel alone, which is expected to start in the first half of 2021. In total, the efficacy of SBP-101 has been tested in two clinical trials in 79 patients.

In a Phase 1a/1b clinical trial of patients with previously untreated metastatic PDA at locations in the United States and Australia, SBP-101 is currently being tested. SBP-101 has been granted Fast Track and FDA orphan drug status.