Vincerx Pharma shares moved higher after the biopharmaceutical company announced it has received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration to commence a clinical trial of its investigational therapeutic VIP943 for patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.
The Phase 1 trial is expected to begin in early 4Q 2023, the company said.
It makes the company’s first candidate from its antibody-drug conjugate (ADCs) platform to enter clinical trials.
“Our next-generation platform is designed to improve efficacy and address safety challenges associated with many ADCs,” commented Vincerx CEO Dr. Ahmed Hamdy.
“We believe VIP943 has the potential to become a much-needed treatment option for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.”
The company also expects to provide preliminary results on another candidate VIP236, which has also gained IND clearance from the FDA, by late 2023 or early 2024.
“Collectively, these milestones support the potential for our strategy to develop small molecule and antibody-based conjugate therapies to improve the care of patients with cancer,” Dr. Hamdy said in a statement.
Vincerx shares initially spiked about 8% in pre-market trade on the news but pared their gains to trade up 1.1% at US$0.87 at mid-morning.
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