The Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU) share price is on the move on Wednesday morning.
In early trade, the clinical stage immunooncology company's shares were down 7% to 38.5 cents.
The Imugene share price has now rebounded and is trading largely flat.
Why is the Imugene share price bouncing around?
Investors were selling down the Imugene share price despite the release of a positive announcement relating to its HER-Vaxx immunotherapy in HER-2 positive gastric cancer trial.
The Phase 2 HER-Vaxx clinical trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immune response in metastatic gastric cancer overexpressing the HER-2 protein. Imugene's study is randomised into two arms of either HER-Vaxx plus standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapy or SOC chemotherapy alone.
The primary endpoint is overall survival (OS) and secondary endpoint includes progression free survival (PFS) by independent central review.
What's the latest?
According to the release, 36 patients have been enrolled and 24 have achieved a PFS event in this signal generating study. Imugene is still awaiting the events needed for OS evaluation and will subsequently analyse all data when available.
In respect to its PFS data, while Imugene's PFS hazard ratio was higher than the initial interim data from last year, it was comparable to the landmark Genentech/Roche registrational ToGA study. This study also examined the effect of Herceptin plus chemotherapy versus SOC chemotherapy alone in advanced HER-2 positive gastric cancer.
Based on these results, Imugene now plans two further company sponsored Phase 2 studies and one Investigator Sponsored Study with HER-Vaxx in early and late stage gastric cancer. No details have been provided in regard to who is sponsoring one of the studies.
Imugene's Managing Director and CEO, Leslie Chong, commented: "We are encouraged by the PFS and anticipated primary OS clinical data to commence three new HER-Vaxx trials, to be called NextHERIZON, NeoHERIZON and NeuHERIZON, in early and late stage gastric cancer including combination with PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors. These studies will be conducted in the US, Australia and South Korea."
Why are its shares trading lower?
The weakness in the Imugene share price today could be due to its higher hazard ratio or concerns over the costs the company will incur undertaking these new trials.
Though, it is worth noting that the Imugene share price is still up almost 300% in 2021.
