The Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CHM) share price is sliding in mid-afternoon trade. This comes despite the company announcing the successful completion of its CLTX CAR T phase 1 trial.
Established in 2020, Chimeric is developing a breakthrough cancer cell therapy drug for solid tumours. The company uses chlorotoxin, which comes from scorpion venom, to bind and direct T cells to target glioblastoma (GBM). Initial scientific research conducted at the City of Hope Cancer Centre in Los Angeles found promising anti-tumour activity from CAR T therapy.
At the time of writing, the biotechnology company's shares are going for 29 cents apiece, down 1.6%.
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What did Chimeric announce?
Investors appear unfazed by the company's latest update, sending Chimeric shares lower.
According to its release, Chimeric advised it has passed the first checkpoint in the City of Hope's phase 1 CLTX CAR T cell clinical trial. All patients in the first group that received the Chlorotoxin CAR T dose have exceeded the 28-day follow-up period without experiencing dose-limiting toxicities.
The dose-escalation study is seeking to assess Chlorotoxin CAR T's safety and maximum tolerance in participants suffering from recurrent or progressive GBM.
While the first cohort received the minimum dosage limit, Chimeric will now move onto the second dosing level. Patients in this group will be administered via two methods – intratumoral (ICT) and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) at a total dose of 88 x 106 CAR T cells.
Chimeric hopes to recruit between 18 to 36 people with MMP2+ recurrent or progressive GBM across 4 different dose levels. Once the appropriate dosing amount is established, the company will then move to phase 2 trials.
Chimeric chief operating officer, Jennifer Chow commented on the achievement:
We are very pleased to have reached this significant milestone with our CLTX CAR T cell therapy as it enables us to advance the development of this important therapy for patients with progressive or recurrent Glioblastoma.
We look forward to further progressing the development of CLTX CAR T and to providing updates as we seek to bring the promise of cell therapy to life for more patients with cancer.
About the Chimeric share price
Since coming online to the ASX at the start of this year, the Chimeric share price has remained relatively flat. The company's shares reached an all-time high of 44 cents in late January, before treading lower.
Based on the current share price, Chimeric has a market capitalisation of roughly $57 million.
