Australian drug development company Noxopharm Limited (ASX: NOX) has announced a major breakthrough this morning on its DARRT cancer therapy drug. The announcement shot the share price of NOX up by 11% to 63 cents at the opening bell.
What was the breakthrough? Noxopharm advised that a recent discovery by Weill Cornell Medical College in New York has significantly validated the company’s novel DARRT treatment program that comprises Veyonda and radiotherapy. Veyonda is a clinical-state drug candidate designed to boost the effectiveness of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It enhances the cancer-killing effect of standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy, thereby enabling lower doses of these toxic therapies to be used. It also seeks to activate the body’s immune cell function to attack those cancer cells that have survived the initial treatment.
The company the Weil Conell discovery relates to how Veyonda combines with radiotherapy to produce whole-of-body anti-cancer response known as an ‘abscopal response’ in patients with metastatic cancer. A complete abscopal response is regarded as the ultimate form of treatment for metastatic cancer.
Up to now, the abscopal response has remained an elusive phenomenon with the mechanisms behind it remaining a mystery. Now, the Weill Cornell study – which was recently published in the scientific journal, Nature Immunology – has shed light on the mechanism, finally offering a path to making it more commonplace. This mechanism happens to be one of the ways that Veyonda works as an anti-cancer agent.
Commenting on the breakthrough, Noxopharm CEO Graham Kelly said:
Our experience shows that this is no dream. The clinical data shows that Veyonda very clearly is boosting the chances of triggering an abscopal response. The Weill Cornell discovery, combined with what we learnt from the DARRT-1 study about Veyonda dosing, means we go into the upcoming DARRT-2 study with a high degree of confidence that we are on the edge of a major breakthrough in cancer therapy.What is Noxopharm? Noxopharm is a clinical-stage Australian drug development company with offices in Sydney and New York. The company has a primary focus on the development of Veyonda. Earlier this week, Noxopharm was in the spotlight when it joined a pilot study (IONIC-1) to explore the ability of Veyonda to boost the effectiveness of Bristol Myers Squibb’s nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of cancer.
How has Noxopharm’s share price performed in 2020? The Noxopharm share price has gone through the roof, rising by 125% this year, after various positive announcements and the general bullish state of the health sector pushed it higher. The share price is trading at 63 cents, giving it a market cap of $120 million.
The post Noxopharm (ASX: NOX) share price shoots higher on major breakthrough appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
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