Thinly traded firm Macrocure Ltd(NASDAQ:MCUR) gains on nearly a 15x increase in volume in response to deal partner Leap Therapeutics’ report. The firm released promising results from a Phase I clinical trial evaluating lead candidate DKN-01, in arrangement with chemo agents cisplatin and gemcitabine, in subjects with advanced biliary cancer.
The report
The results were shown at the ‘European Society for Medical Oncology’ annual meeting in Copenhagen. In evaluable subjects who obtained a 300 mg treatment of DKN-01 and chemo, 33% were partial responders. Moreover, the disease control rate was 95%. Median PFS and overall survival have yet to be identified.
The combination treatment was well-tolerated and safe with no confirmed serious adverse happenings or dose-limiting toxicities. Macrocure lead candidate is an improved IgG4 monoclonal antibody that links to Dickkopf-1, a protein related with a poor diagnosis in a range of cancers.
Explicitly, it obstructs a pathway named canonical Wnt/Beta-catenin. It plays a vital part in embryonic expansion, cell proliferation and variation. Bile duct cancer occurs in more than 6,000 Americans annually. The 5-year survival rate don’t even cross 10% as it is generally in a progressive stage when first detected. Macrocure and Leap reported their merger plans in August.
The management speaks
Nissim Mashiach, the CEO and President of Macrocure, said that after careful assessment of many alternatives, the Board of Directors and executives believe this deal offers great potential for shareholders. Leap Therapeutics has a growing pipeline of fresh drug candidates absorbed on key immuno-oncology goals that are intended to deliver valuable and new treatment possibilities for subjects suffering from aggressive cancers.
Also, Leap’s skilled management team has a record relating to private and public firms and drug development success. The CEO of Leap said that arrangement with Macrocure places organization as a prominent immuno-oncology firm with sufficient funds to develop pipeline of monoclonal antibodies through important value-creating events.
Prominently, the company expect achieving considerable clinical achievements during 2016 and 2017. The team of Leap will remain in their roles in the combined firm that will be established at Leap’s existing corporate office in Cambridge.
