What it does
ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM) specialises in developing drugs for serious medical conditions for which there is a distinct lack of existing treatments.
Its flagship drug is called Lupuzor – a treatment for the autoimmune disease lupus.
The drug missed its primary endpoint in a phase III study last year, but the outcome was more nuanced than the top line results suggested and actually showed that Lupuzor worked well in certain patients, chiefly those who were antibody-positive.
The results certainly haven’t held back ImmuPharma or its top drug. In fact, boss Tim McCarthy has said that Lupuzor still possesses “blockbuster potential”, meaning it could rack more than US$1bn in annual sales.
After the end of the phase III trial, 62 patients took part in a ‘follow-up’ study – called an open-label extension study.
Results from this study in July confirmed Lupuzor’s “outstanding and robust safety profile”, with no serious adverse events reported.
On top of that, ImmuPharma was also able to show that a third of the patients taking the drug were in remission at the end of the study.
Another 500 lupus sufferers are being given access to Lupuzor for the next two years as part of a managed access programme (MAP).
In addition to helping patients, the AIM-quoted drug developer expects to collect more valuable data on Lupuzor, which will be useful if and when it decides to press ahead with regulatory filings.
The company was also given a boost in June after it raised around £2.66mln from a subscription agreement with institutional investor, Lanstead Capital, which it said would be used primarily to fund the execution of its corporate strategy including progressing Lupuzor through both corporate partnerships and regulatory pathways and proactively pursuing the 'spin-off' of the subsidiary companies, Ureka and ELRO, in order to unlock their future potential and enhance value to shareholders.
What the chairman says – Tim McCarthy
What the company says
"Following the success of the Lupuzor open-label extension study successfully meeting its endpoint confirming its robust safety profile."
ImmuPharma is now in active discussions with potential partners in order to commence a further Phase III study in Lupuzor.
Lupuzor isn’t ImmuPharma’s only drug going through the clinic. Within its two further platforms,
Elro Pharma (Nucant), a cancer treatment, has yielded “promising results” in two-phase I safety and dose-finding studies.
The group’s other subsidiary Ureka sarl has been developing lead compounds from its novel and patented peptide technology platform UrelixTM, which is focusing on oligourea foldamers as a tool to improve the pharmaceutical properties of peptides."
With the shares trading around 9.4p as of 12 August 2019, Immupharma carries a market cap of £16.08mln.