Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) has in-licensed the rights to a novel monoclonal antibody that targets the Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) peptide, according to Edison, which has released a market update detailing the company’s progress and long-term outlook.
The agreement has been made with the MD Anderson Cancer Center for undisclosed upfront and development milestones as well as single-digit royalties.
Targeting DKK1 expression
DKK1 promotes tumour metastasis across a variety of tumour types.
Arovella has plans to combine the DKK1-targeting technology with its recently acquired invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform and test DKK1-CAR-iNKT cells (under the program name ALA-104) in cancer models in 2022.
Meanwhile, the company is developing its other platform, ALA-101 (CAR19-iNKT) as an off-the-shelf treatment for blood cancers. ALA-101 has shown strong preclinical activity against CD19-expressing cancers.
The company is developing the clinical plan for ALA-101 and once it lands a manufacturer it plans to start producing the lentiviral vector.
Long-term prospects
Based on unrelated cashflow issues, Edison has adjusted its Arovella valuation from A$26 million or A$0.05 per basic share (A$0.05 per diluted share), to A$25 million or A$0.05 per basic share (A$0.04 per diluted share).
The broker notes, however, that neither of the two CAR-iNKT programs are included in its valuation. It will adjust this outlook when they enter the clinic.
“Given the sales of similar products and recent acquisition activity in this space, the resulting changes to our valuation could be meaningful," the broker report said.
Edison goes on to cite the sales of similar products – US$563 million in sales in 2020 for Yescarta, the CAR-T from Gilead – and recent acquisition activity, such as Kuur, an iNKT company purchased by Athenex for US$70 million upfront and US$115 million in potential milestones, to make the case that positive change could be on the way for Arovella.
Promise in a range of cancers
The DKK1-targeting technology shows promise across a range of tumour types including, lung, breast, liver, oesophageal, gastric, pancreatic, cervical and bladder cancers.
The offending peptide also appears to be overexpressed on multiple myeloma cells – the DKK1-CAR-T cells results demonstrate efficacy in multiple myeloma mouse models, where healthy tissue was spared.
Next steps
Over the next 12 months, Arovella will work on confirming that the technology does not target healthy cells and that it can combine successfully with the iNKT cell therapy platform.
Plans are underway to kick off preclinical studies across relevant tumour types and, from there, to pull together and implement a manufacturing strategy.