The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care (ASX: XHJ) index has slid 0.55% in the last two days, but this ASX healthcare share has defied the trend.
The Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) share price has rocketed 51% from 23.5 cents at market close on 16 May to the current share price of 35.5 cents.
Let's take a look at what is going on at Immutep.
What's going on?
Immutep is developing novel immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease. This includes eftilagimod alpha (efti), a soluble LAG-3 protein and MHC Class II agonist that stimulates immunity to treat cancer.
Immutep shares appear to be lifting today on news of positive survival data from a phase two clinical trial.
The biotechnology company advised that efti, together with MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy, generates "meaningful long-term survival" in non-small lung cancer patients.
The trial showed a medial survival time of 25 months in non-small lung cancer patients with greater than or equal to 1% PD-L1 expression.
This is the central area of focus for the future clinical development of efti. In fact, fast track designation was granted in October 2022.
Commenting on the results, Immutep CEO Marc Voigt said:
We now are showing excellent initial overall survival, which is the gold standard benchmark within oncology, across the entire intent-to-treat population of 1st line NSCLC patients in our Phase II trial.
For non-small cell lung cancer patients with >1% PD-L1 expression, a key focus for future development and for which efti in combination with pembrolizumab has Fast Track status, the survival benefit is impressive.
We look forward to presenting more mature data at a major medical conference later this year.
Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for 80 to 85% of lung cancers, impacting about 1.87 million people each year.
Share price snapshot
Despite the rise of the last couple of days, the Immutep share price has fallen nearly 12% in the last year.
The ASX healthcare share has a market capitalisation of about $310 million based on the latest share price.
