US FDA places clinical hold on Iovance's lung cancer treatment trial

The US Food and Drug Administration has placed a clinical hold on Iovance Biotherapeutics' lung cancer therapy trial after a patient death, the company said on Wednesday.

Shares of the company were down 26.9 per cent in premarket trading.

The company said that it will pause enrollment in trial studying LN-145 TIL during the hold, while patients who were previously treated with the therapy for non-small cell lung cancer will continue to be monitored.

The company said that it will work with the FDA to safely resume enrollment as soon as possible.

Non-small cell lung cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the lung.