Imugene (ASX:IMU) - Managing Director & CEO, Leslie Chong
Managing Director & CEO, Leslie Chong
Source: Imugene
The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

  • Imugene (IMU) presented key findings from its HER-Vaxx immunotherapy and CF33 oncolytic virus programs at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting
  • HER-Vaxx produces an antibody response against a cancer growth protein called ‘HER-2’
  • New data presented at the meeting indicates that all patients develop high levels of HER-2 specific antibodies early in the treatment protocol
  • Interestingly, Dr Rita Laeufle said the data suggests treatment is effective and well-tolerated with an overall survival benefit that is superior to chemotherapy alone
  • The CF33 oncolytic virus program involved the study of a unique chimeric orthopoxvirus engineered by Dr Yanghee Woo and his team
  • The virus, termed CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1, was tested on mice and showed strong results against solid tumours and demonstrated robust anti-cancer activity against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
  • Imugene shares are up 6.94 per cent to 19.3 cents per share

Imugene (IMU) presented key findings from its HER-Vaxx immunotherapy and CF33 oncolytic virus programs at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting.

HER-Vaxx immunotherapy programme

IMU’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Rita Laeufle presented the HER-Vaxx immunotherapy programme, expanding on previous data and highlighting new key findings.

HER-Vaxx is designed to produce an antibody response against a cancer growth signal receptor protein called ‘HER-2’, which is found on the cell surface in gastric, breast, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancers.

Pre-clinical studies, as well as the phase one and two studies, have shown the immunotherapy stimulates a polyclonal antibody response to HER-2/neu, a well-known cancer target.

In support of this previous data, Dr Rita Laeufle explained during the virtual presentation that new data indicates all patients develop high levels of HER-2 specific antibodies early in the treatment protocol.

Further, analysis of the antibody data reveals high levels are maintained during the treatment and maintenance phases, with minimal booster injections of HER-Vaxx required to maintain the high levels.

Overall, Dr Rita Laeufle said the data suggests treatment is effective and well-tolerated with an overall survival benefit that is superior to chemotherapy alone.

This supports the interim analysis data released in 2020, which showed HER-Vaxx contributed to a reduced risk of death of 58.2 per cent in the HER-Vaxx plus chemotherapy group as compared to chemotherapy alone.

The median overall survival for patients receiving HER-Vaxx plus chemotherapy
was 14.2 months, compared to 8.8 months in patients treated with chemotherapy
alone.

The final tumour response, correlation of antibodies with tumour response, and final progression-free survival and overall survival data is expected sometime this year.

CF33 oncolytic virus program

Also at the meeting, City of Hope’s Dr Yanghee Woo gave a presentation on the CF33 oncolytic virus program.

Based in California, City of Hope is a world-renowned independent research and treatment centre for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

The abstract presentation was titled ‘Subcutaneous Intratumoral Administration of CF33-hNISanti-PD-L1 Eradicates Distant Peritoneal Tumors’.

Dr Woo’s team engineered CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1, which is a unique chimeric orthopoxvirus.

It shows robust preclinical activity against solid tumors and strong anti-cancer activity against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

The team investigated the orthopoxvirus’ ability to track and kill distant peritoneal metastases after local virus administration in vivo.

Using a PDAC mouse model, the team found that subcutaneous intratumoral delivery of the orthopoxvirus decreases peritoneal tumour burden and improves survival.

Both the HER-Vaxx immunotherapy program and CF33 oncolytic virus program presentations can be viewed online.

Imugene shares are up 6.94 per cent to 19.3 cents per share at 10:43 am AEST.

IMU by the numbers
More From The Market Online

Market shrugs as Fisher & Paykel announces mass recall

Fisher & Paykel has initiated a voluntary limited recall of batches of Airvo 1 and my…
The Market Online Video

Brian Leedman’s BlinkLab to join ASX: AI-driven smartphone app screens for autism, ADHD

BlinkLab is a world-first, AI-driven digital healthcare venture, that uses a smartphone and facial recognition to…

Osteopore stock spikes 900% on Singapore and Vietnam approvals

Osteopore's (ASX:OSX) share price was up 38% after the regenerative medicine company received approval for its…

Amplia Therapeutics takes step up in pancreatic cancer treatment

Amplia Therapeutics is on to next step in its pancreatic cancer treatment research after a successful…