Scancell Holdings PLC (LON:SCLP) shares advanced on Monday after rthe firm provided an upbeat half-year update on progress for its various clinical studies.
The company will begin recruiting patients with advanced melanoma for UK Phase 2 clinical trials of its SCIB1 novel cancer immunotherapy in the coming weeks, following regulatory approval in April.
WATCH: Vulpes Life Sciences Fund's Martin Diggle discusses Scancell investment
In order to begin the study in the US there are talks ongoing with the regulator about administering the drugs using the TriGrid electroporation delivery system.
Saying that he looked forward to updating the market on the US arm of this trial and patient recruitment in due course, Scancell's chief executive Dr Cliff Holloway summed up the six-month period as “busy and productive”.
Progress towards initiating a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Modi-1, the first cancer treatment from the company’s Moditope platform, has seen formulation work “well underway” to produce the final product for clinical testing and initiation of the preclinical toxicity testing programme.
On the SCIB2 ImmunoBody vaccine, there was no fresh news since May’s milestone joint update with Cancer Research UK that showed the potency of immune responses and prolonged survival in pre-clinical trials ahead of moving into the clinic with patients suffering from solid tumours.
Holloway also hailed the establishment of a clinical advisory board and the £3.9mln new investment from Vulpes Life Sciences in June, saying the investment “not only strengthens our cash position, but provides a ringing endorsement of Scancell's future potential”, as well as adding insight to the board.
In afternoon trading, shares in Scancell were 5.9% higher at 7.15p.
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