UPDATE 1-Accentia shares jump on positive view of cancer vaccine

(Recasts; adds details, share movement)

April 17 (Reuters) - Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc's ABPI.O stock more than doubled after the small biotechnology company said a committee recommended its majority-owned unit's cancer vaccine be further developed.

Accentia said an independent data monitoring committee (DMC) ruled its unit, Biovest International Inc BVTI.OB, could go ahead with the final analysis of late-stage safety and effectiveness data of the vaccine, BiovaxID, in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Accentia owns about 76 percent of Biovest, and is eligible for royalties of 19.5 percent on global sales of BiovaxID.

Biovest is in discussions with regulatory agencies for the path ahead for potential accelerated or conditional approvals for BiovaxID, the unit's CEO Steven Arikian said in a news release.

Last month, Tampa, Florida-based Accentia's shares had flopped to a life-low after its sinusitis drug candidate SinuNase failed a trial.

Shares of Accentia were trading at $1.85 before the bell, after closing at 81 cents Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Varsha Tickoo in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)