The Clarity Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: CU6) share price is avoiding the market weakness on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the ASX 200 biotech stock is up 7% to $3.18.
Why is this ASX 200 biotech stock jumping?
Investors have been bidding the company's shares higher this morning following the release of a couple of announcements.
The first one relates to the SECuRE trial, which is a Phase I/IIa theranostic trial for identification and treatment of participants with PSMA-expressing mCRPC using 64Cu/67Cu-SAR-bisPSMA.
It notes that 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA is used to visualise PSMA-expressing lesions and select candidates for subsequent 67Cu-SAR-bisPSMA therapy.
According to the release, the ASX 200 biotech stock has completed the Dose Escalation Phase of the SECuRE trial.
Importantly, the Safety Review Committee (SRC) has recommended the trial progress to the Cohort Expansion Phase (Phase II) at the 8 GBq of 67Cu-SARbisPSMA dose level based on the safety and efficacy data demonstrated in every cohort of the study.
Executive chair, Dr Alan Taylor, commented:
The SECuRE trial continues to generate extraordinary results, and we thank our team, Principal Investigators, members of the SRC, and especially the participants who have contributed to the study.
Seeing the safety profile and already observing impressive signs of efficacy (despite the majority of participants only receiving a single cycle of 67Cu-SAR-bisPSMA and the primary focus of the Dose Escalation Phase being safety assessments), we are thrilled to progress to Phase II, the Cohort Expansion Phase, of our theranostic SECuRE trial.
Supply agreement
A second announcement reveals that the ASX 200 biotech stock has signed a new agreement with The University of Queensland (UQ) advanced imaging at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) for the supply of copper-64 (Cu-64 or 64Cu) isotope.
Management notes that this will support clinical trials with 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA in Australia, offering its promising imaging agent to prostate cancer patients in need of novel diagnostic options. Additionally, the agreement will support the rollout of two theranostic pre-clinical programs, 64/67Cu-SAR-bisFAP and 64/67Cu-SARtrastuzumab.
Commenting on the news, Dr Taylor said:
We are pleased to continue building a successful Australian life-sciences story and benefiting Australian patients and their treating clinicians. We are proud to have been able to progress our technology from the benchtop at some of the most prominent institutes in Australia to Phase III trials at leading clinical sites in Australia and the US.
This agreement with the UQ AIBN not only builds on years of close ties between Clarity and the Australian scientific and clinical communities but also reflects our strong focus on continued partnership and synergies that can be derived from these important collaborations.
