** Shares of drug developer Actuate Therapeutics ACTU.O rise 7.2% to $10.6 premarket

** ACTU's experimental drug, elraglusib, in combination with chemotherapy met the main goal of statically significant improvement in overall survival in a mid stage trial, compared to chemotherapy alone

** The drug was being tested in first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – a type of cancer that starts in the ducts of the pancreas and has spread to other parts of the body

** Co says the drug helped patients survive for a year

** Up to last close, ACTU stock up 24.25% YTD

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan)

((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com))