Ahead of the Bell: Halozyme Therapeutics rallies

Halozyme shares jumped 14 percent before markets opened Tuesday after the drug developer said it was closer to reinitiating the study of a pancreatic cancer treatment that was halted by federal regulators last month.

The Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on enrollment and dosing of PEGPH20 days after Halozyme suspended its mid-stage trial, citing concerns over blocked blood vessel in enrollees.

Late Monday, Halozyme said that it had asked FDA to end the clinical hold after a data monitoring committee voiced its support for the resumption of the study with some modifications.

Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., which had been trading at or near all-time highs early this year, plunged almost 30 percent in early April when the trial was suspended.

The San Diego company's stock regained some ground Tuesday morning. Shares rose 14 percent, or $1.05, to $8.57 about two hours before markets opened. That is still less than half the price the stock was fetching earlier this year, however.

Investors overlooked a broader loss from Halozyme, which fell short of Wall Street expectations for the first quarter late Monday.

Net losses grew to about $26.5 million, or 22 cents per share, from $19.3 million, or 17 cents per share, last year, due to costs tied to the PEGPH20 research.

Analysts expected, on average, a loss of 15 cents per share, according to FactSet.