Shares of
Immunocore Holdings Plc
IMCR
were up 6.1% on Friday after the company announced that it has entered into a collaboration and supply agreement with French pharma giant,
Sanofi
SNY
.
Under this collaboration, the companies will evaluate Sanofi’s product candidate, SAR444245, in combination with Immunocore’s Kimmtrak in patients with metastatic cutaneous melanoma (mCM) — a population with significant unmet medical need.
Per the deal, as part of its ongoing phase I/II study, Sanofi will evaluate the combo of its precisely engineered version of IL-2, which is SAR444245 plus Immunocore’s novel bispecific protein, Kimmtrak, for treating HLA-A*02:01 positive patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic skin cancers.
Also, Immunocore will bear all the expenses related to the manufacturing and supply of Kimmtrak while SNY will be responsible for clinical development and all costs related to the above-mentioned study.
Shares of Immunocore have lost 4.5% so far this year compared with the
industry
’s decrease of 24%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In early 2020, Sanofi bought small cancer biotech, Synthorx, which added the latter’s lead pipeline asset, THOR-707 (now SAR444245) to SNY’s immuno-oncology portfolio. SAR444245 is currently being evaluated in several mid-stage studies for treating various types of cancer indications.
The FDA approved Kimmtrak for the treatment of HLA-A*02:01-positive adult patients with unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM) in January 2022. In April 2022, the European Commission approved Kimmtrak for the given indication.
In the first quarter of 2022, combined net and pre-product revenues of Kimmtrak were £10.5 million or $13.8 million.
Immunocore is currently planning to initiate a randomized study investigating Kimmtrak with or without anti-PD1 therapy in patients with metastatic melanoma in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Successful development of Kimmtrak for additional indications will help the drug treat a broader patient population and drive sales in 2022 and beyond.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
Immunocore currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks worth considering in the biotech sector are
Leap Therapeutics, Inc.
LPTX
and
Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
AVXL
, both carrying the same Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Leap Therapeutics’ loss per share has narrowed 11.1% for 2022 and 5.9% for 2023 in the past 60 days.
Earnings of Leap Therapeutics have surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same on the other occasion. LPTX delivered an earnings surprise of 1.92%, on average.
Anavex Life Sciences’ loss per share estimates narrowed 6.6% for 2022 and 4.3% for 2023 in the past 60 days.
Earnings of Anavex Life Sciences have surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the same on the other two occasions. AVXL delivered an earnings surprise of 0.48%, on average.
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