ASX All Ords healthcare share Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU) is up 10% on Friday to 11 cents.
The share price bump follows another update from the clinical-stage immuno‐oncology biotech company, which is developing virotherapies to treat and kill cancer.
What news does this ASX All Ords biotech have today?
On Friday, Imugene released a second update for the week on its Phase 1 MAST (Metastatic Advanced Solid Tumours) trial.
The trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of Imugene's novel cancer-killing virus CF33-hNIS (Vaxinia).
Today we learned that the first patients in the Phase 1 study's higher dose cohort have received their dose.
On Wednesday, the ASX All Ords company reported early positive signals in the trial, which sent its share price soaring 14%.
Imugene said 38 patients had been dosed with Vaxinia during the continuing dose escalation phase.
Of them, 31 had undergone their first scans after 42 days to see the results.
In the IT cohorts comprising 14 patients, seven of the 15 cancer lesions injected with Vaxinia had reduced in size, and three were eradicated.
The CEO of Imugene, Leslie Chong, said:
Following the positive news on VAXINIA's early signals and FDA Fast Track Designation to end 2023, we are pleased to start the new year by announcing the ongoing progress of the MAST trial as we continue to see no safety issues with the drug.
We also look forward to expanding the trial to take a closer look at bile duct cancer where we've seen early encouraging results.
Imugene gave a poster presentation on Vaxinia for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies at the annual ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO-GI) in San Francisco, California today.
The presentation contained preliminary data from the first three dose levels in the MAST study.
The company said the data demonstrated encouraging anti-tumor activity with Vaxinia monotherapy.
This included one patient who achieved an immunological complete response with no known recurrence after one year.
Imugene told attendees that Vaxinia "may be an effective and safe treatment option for GI malignancies …".
The company also said Vaxinia warrants further investigation in biliary tract cancer patients.
Imugene share price snapshot
This ASX All Ords healthcare share has fallen 33% over the past 12 months.
Over the same time period, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has retreated 1.23%.
