NovoCure's stock surged 40.48% in pre-market trading on Thursday, marking a significant upward movement for the oncology company.

The dramatic rise follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of NovoCure's Optune Pax, a wearable medical device for treating adult patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The approval, announced by the company, represents the first new treatment option for this condition in nearly three decades.

The regulatory decision is based on positive results from the Phase 3 PANOVA-3 clinical trial, which demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in median overall survival for patients treated with Optune Pax in combination with standard chemotherapy, compared to chemotherapy alone.