Health Check: Immutep shares bounce on revived lung cancer treatment hopes | Stockhead
Not dead yet, folks: Immutep offers hope of a revived lung cancer program. Pic: Getty Images. Immutep shares surge up to 30% on further news about its ‘failed’ non-small cell lung cancer programOrthocell leads. . .
Not dead yet, folks: Immutep offers hope of a revived lung cancer program. Pic: Getty Images. Immutep shares surge up to 30% on further news about its ‘failed’ non-small cell lung cancer programOrthocell leads early bird quarterly reportersPatrys locks in a Yale University collabImmutep (ASX:IMM)shares this morning have bounced a Lazarus-like 30% on a further update from the cell therapy drug developer about its lung cancer program. Diligent readers will recall that Immutep shares in March plunged 85% after the company discontinued its phase III non-small cell lung (NSCLS) cancer trial, TACTI-004. In effect, the trial did not pass a ‘futility’ analysis, because the placebo arm did better than the active group. That seems to be an increasingly common scenario in late-stage trials. Luckily, Immutep has been running a second investigator-led phase I program, INSIGHT-003. This one evaluates Immutep’s eftilagimod alfa (efti), in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and chemotherapy. This is as a first-line therapy for advanced/metastatic non-squamous NSCLC. Immutep today said results from 51 patients showed “positive mature overall survival data”. In crude summary, the treated patients showed mean overall survival of 30. 9 months. “We are encouraged by the data … which continues to compare favourably with historical benchmarks,” CEO Marc Voigt says. This is especially the case with patients with no, or low, expression of the biomarker PD-L1. Voigt said the results reinforced Immutep’s confidence in efti’s potential to enhance anti-tumour immune responses, “including in patient populations that historically have experienced less favourable outcomes”. Meanwhile, Immutep is undertaking a ‘root cause analysis’ of why TACTI-004 flopped. But preliminary immune monitoring data suggests patients treated with efti “exhibited a different immune activation profile compared with previous studies”. In other words, the program might not be rooted after all. The company expects to unveil additional results in the current quarter. Orthocell reports early Remplir gainsOrthocell (ASX:OCC)reported record June quarter revenue of $3. 8 million, 36% higher year-on-year. Sales for the full financial year grew 44% to $13. 2 million, also a record. Management attributes the growth to increased take-up of its flagship product, the nerve regeneration ‘cuff’ Remplir. The numbers were also bolstered by growing sales of Orthocell’s dental product, Striate. Management notes that revenue has grown at a consistent compound 10% over the last ten quarters. “The company expects to achieve a higher growth rate in the [current financial] year”. Orthocell is rolling out Remplir in the US, with initial sales of $330,000 (up 10% on the March quarter). Orthocell expects “continued expansion in hospital adoption and surgeon utilisation, positioning the business for a material uplift in US revenue as commercial penetration builds and second usage among surgeons emerges. ”Overall, offshore revenue accounted for 9% of total turnover. The company expects to start selling Remplir in the UK and the European Union in the first half of calendar 2027. Meanwhile, Orthocell’s normalised cash burn was “broadly stable” at $2. 4 million. This resulted in a June-end cash balance of $44. 1m. Visionflex eyes telehealth expansionAn enabler of telehealth to remote communities,Visionflex (ASX:VFX)reports June quarter cash receipts of $2. 1 million, up 3%. Receipts for the financial year came in at $4. 9 million, 8% better year-on-year. However, the company’s recorded revenue fell 23% to $1. 5 million for the quarter, as customers deferred hardware deliveries into the current quarter. Unaudited revenue for the year declined 10% to $4. 2 million. Visionflex also managed positive cash flow of $700,000, a 75% improvement. Visionflex provides equipment such as general and specialist examination cameras. A new function enables patients to be assessed without an operator at their end. This expands the company’s market to “care settings previously not commercially or operationally viable”. These include unstaffed clinics, resources operations, corporate health and after-hours aged care. During the quarter the company won an $800,000 contract with NSW Health and a $300,000 deal with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Management says the company enters the current financial year with a “materially lower cost base and improved cash generation. ”No time for spring break as Patrys goes to collegePatrys (ASX:PAB)has struck a revenue-sharing deal with the storied Yale University, to develop its treatment for unspecified acute and chronic immune inflammatory conditions. Under the arrangement, the storied Connecticut institution assumes Patrys’ intellectual property, with the company receiving a half share of future commercialisation revenue. The IP in question is the company’s drug candidate deoxymab. The payments will be in both cash and non-cash, “including equity interests, licensing revenue, royalties, milestone payments and other commercial transaction consideration”. The tie-up relates not only to deoxymab, but a potential new Yale venture, Nucleicon. Nucleicon was founded by deoxymab inventor Dr James Hansen. “This agreement preserves the company’s involvement and exposure to potential future commercial success, while materially reducing the capital required to continue advancing the asset internally,” Patrys CEO Dr Samantha South says. The deoxymab platform consists of cell-penetrating antibodies, targeting multiple indications by crossing the blood-brain barrier. Patrys was to have launched a first-in-human phase I trial for its antibody cancer candidate, PAT-DX1. But in October 2024 the company canned the program, after safety testing showed unacceptable margins of tolerance. Separately, the clinical-stage Patrys is developing an injectable therapy for delirium. The company says most intensive care patients suffer from such confusion, but current oral drugs take too long to work. Patrys has reformulated a drug called quetiapine, to improve absorption. Patrys raised $3. 2 million in April, by way of a placement. It’s a Meso-blast as stem cell leader meets guidanceMesoblast (ASX:MSB)shares today gained a further 7% or so, taking the gains since Friday’s trading update to 16%. The numbers showed Mesoblast’s quest to commercialise its Ryoncil stem cell treatment in the US has got off to a solid start. In December 2024 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ryoncil as the first drug for children under age 12 with steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). In fact, Ryoncil was the first mesenchymal stromal cell product approved by the agency, for any indication. Last financial year the company chalked up Ryoncil revenue of US$115 million, in line with guidance of US$110-120m. The company also reported June (fourth) net revenue of US$36 million. “We assess this as a solid year, with market share sitting at around 29%, as per our estimates,” broker Canaccord says. The fourth quarter number implies a run rate of US$144 million for the current financial year, while Canaccord plugs in US$156m. This considers market share wins and off-label use of the drug. However, the firm views consensus estimates of US$180-190 million of sales as “ambitious”. The firm values the stock at $3. 23, implying 36% of upside. This includes $1. 54 as the discounted cash flow of Ryoncil. Then there’s a further $1. 69 from expanded indications including adult GvHD and chronic lower back pain. The company should release results from its second CLBP phase III trial in mid 2027. At Stockhead we tell it as it is. While Orthocell is a Stockhead advertiser, the company did not sponsor this article.