Panmure Gordon repeated its 'buy' recommendation on BiVictrix Therapeutics PLC along with a 66p price target after the drug developer secured £370,000 worth of government grant funding.
The non-dilutive Innovate UK investment will bankroll the next 18 months of development of BVX002 targeting ovarian cancer.
"These aim to prepare for the selection of a clinical lead candidate," Panmure said in a note.
"Initially, the selection of the optimal linker/payload and therapeutic format combination, followed by the assessment of in vivo efficacy, selectivity and safety to move the best bispecific ADC [antibody drug conjugate] molecules towards clinical lead candidate nomination."
Bivictrix is developing next-generation cancer therapies using its Bi-Cygni technology platform.
Put simply, it creates innovative antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that can selectively target and unmask cancer cells, making them more vulnerable to treatment.
The aim is to improve the selectivity and efficacy of cancer therapies while cutting their side effects.
Its lead candidate is BVX001 for acute myeloid leukaemia. A late pre-clinical candidate, the asset has orphan drug designation.
The BVX001 programme is now moving towards the pre-IND phase, which is where a drug developer prepares and submits the necessary data package to the US Food & Drug Administration to support initiating clinical trials with an investigational new drug.
Panmure expects a safety data readout from this pre-IND work by the end of the month. In the meantime, BiVictrix is looking for sources of future funding, the broker added.
In early afternoon trading the stock was trading sideways at 11p.