Sareum Holdings Plc (LON:SAR) shot higher on Tuesday after data presented at a massive industry conference showed that its flagship Checkpoint 1 inhibitor was able to remove any evidence of lung cancer in mice.
When combined with low-dose gemcitabine – commonly-prescribed in chemotherapy – and an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy, SRA737 demonstrated “dramatic anti-tumour activity”, Sareum said.
WATCH: Sareum boss looks ahead to critical Phase II data from SRA737
All ten of the mice with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) showed tumour regression at the end of the 21-day treatment period. Eight of the mice showed sustained complete response after a further 39 days without receiving any more treatment.
A complete response doesn’t mean cured, but it is the best result that can be reported and means there is no evidence of the disease.
The data, which was presented at the American Association of Cancer Research in Atlanta, suggests this combination of SRA737, LDG and an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy “may represent the optimal implementation of these agents,” said Sareum.
‘Very exciting’
“The model data presented are very exciting with all examples treated with SRA737, LDG and anti-PD-L1 showing tumour regression and 80% having a complete response, with no detectable cancer,” said Sareum chief executive Tim Mitchell.
“This provides a clear early demonstration of the potential of SRA737+LDG to enhance anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy in small cell lung cancer, a cancer type where such immunotherapies have shown limited benefit.”
He added: “We will follow the progress of studies using this novel combination approach with great interest.”
Sareum shares jumped 6.4% to 0.81p on Tuesday.