Investors are flocking to buy shares of biopharmaceutical company, Medarex, Inc. (MEDX), after an announcement from the Mayo Clinic revealed a new drug, manufactured by Medarex, has helped cure two men of prostate cancer tumors that were once too large and invasive to be surgically removed.  Both men are now cancer free.

Leading the Mayo Clinic research team is urologist Eugene Kwon, who describes the results of this current stage of clinical trial on the drug, Ipilimumab, a “holy grail” in research on prostate cancer.  Kwon said his team has invested years looking for just such a treatment.

In the phase II study, 108 patients were treated with standard treatment regimens that involve hormone and radiation therapies.  Their care was supplemented with Ipilimumab.

For both the patients in question, aggressive cancerous tumors had become so large they were invading the patients’ abdominal cavities, a situation considered inoperable.  After participation in the trial, however, the tumors shrunk dramatically, making surgery a realistic option after all.  Now that both patients have undergone surgery, they are free of all signs of cancer.

The Mayo Clinic announcement was made on Friday, prompting sales of Medarex shares to surge by 17% at the close of the market on Monday.  The recent trading price of $8.63 per share is approaching its highest price since last August, when shares sold for $10.12.  The Mayo Clinic is not a publicly owned entity; it is instead the world’s largest non-profit medical practice group.