Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDRA) declined on almost 3 times the normal volume in anticipation to the pricing of public offering of 25 million shares. The price defined as per this public offering is $2 per share. Underwriters over-allotment was states as an additional 3.75 million shares. Management confirmed the closing date of this public offering to be October 13. Net proceeds will support the clinical advancement of pipeline candidates.
The highlights
Prior to this update, in last week of September, Idera Pharmaceuticals released initial clinical data from its underway Phase 1/2 clinical study of intra-tumoral IMO-2125. In this Phase 1 portion of ongoing study, IMO-2125 is being assessed in combination with ipilimumab for cure of patients suffering with metastatic melanoma. This group have failed in previously performed PD-1 therapy.
These preliminary data suggest that IMO-2125 is showing encouraging clinical activity. It is being well taken in a patient population with negligible options and low hope of clinical response with medication of ipilimumab treatment alone. Additional clinical data from the current dose escalation part of the study as well as detailed data on the translational report, will be showed during an oral session in November.
The expert view
Vincent Milano, the CEO of Idera, said that they have completed pre-clinical activities in a broad space of tumor types to check the theory of intra-tumoral regimen of IMO-2125. This work gave them confidence to evaluate the ability of IMO-2125, starting with this current trial in patients with PD-1 refractory metastatic melanoma.
Milano said that they are energized by the preliminary results from this ongoing study. They have been solidifying their plans to boost the program as they believe there is a flawless way to bring IMO-2125 to melanoma patients. These patients have failed to benefit from checkpoint inhibition. This opens an opportunity to launch IMO-2125 as the selected agent to trigger the tumor microenvironment and possibly improve results for patients. Following a full planned assessment, Idera have decided to line up the IMO-2125 plan and explore strategic possibilities for IMO-8400. The type of activity seen so far in this study is encouraging.
