Crude oil prices rose again to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow climbing 93 points to 17,900. Nasdaq gained 16 points to 4,958.
On the upside
Vascular Biogenics (Nasdaq: VBLT) presented upbeat Phase 1/2 results for VB-111 to treat recurrent platinum resistant ovarian cancer patients.
Oncothyreon (Nasdaq: ONTY) presented promising results from a Phase 1b study of ONT-380 to treat HER2+ advanced or metatstatic breast cancer.
Shares of Cemtrex (NYSE: CETX) rose ahead of its presentation at the 6th Annual LD Micro Invitational tomorrow.
On the downside
ProNAi Therapeutics (Nasdaq: DNAI) suspended development of PNT2258 after disappointing results from a Phase 2 trial.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter to Adamis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ADMP) for its pre-filled single dose epinephrine syringe product.
Ocular Therapeutix (Nasdaq: OCUL) reported disappointing results from a second Phase 3 clinical trial of DEXTENZA to treat allergic conjunctivitis.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 9 points to 2,108. Bitcoin climbed $12 to $578.