The Imugene Ltd (ASX: IMU) share price is climbing today on the back of a clinical update from the biotech company.
Imugene shares are currently trading at 28 cents, a 7.69% gain. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.53% at the time of writing.
Let's take a look at what Imugene announced today.
Clinical trial update
Imugene has received Western Institutional Review Board approval to kickstart a phase one clinical trial of a new cancer treatment.
The company will look into the use of its oncolytic virotherapy candidate, known as Vaxinia, on multiple solid tumours.
The world-renowned City of Hope cancer treatment centre near Los Angeles is the first hospital in the US to receive ethics approval. Further clinical sites will open in the US in 2022. Patient recruitment will start immediately.
Commenting on the start of the trial, CEO and managing director Leslie Chong said:
Accomplishing this goal speaks to the perseverance and dedication of Imugene's clinical and research team as we continue to build on our clinical and commercial potential.
Following the outstanding work of Professor Yuman Fong and the City of Hope team, in addition to the positive pre-clinical results, we're incredibly eager to unlock the potential of VAXINIA and the oncolytic virotherapy platform more broadly.
The trial will be conducted via the Food and Drug Administration investigational new drug process. Imugene received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the trial in December.
Share price snapshot
The Imugene share price has skyrocketed 137% in the past year. However, it has dropped around 29% year to date.
In contrast, the broader ASX 200 Index has returned about 9% in the past 52 weeks.
During the past month, Imugene shares have gained nearly 12%, up more than 16% in the past week.
Imugene has a market capitalisation of about $1.6 billion based on its current share price.
