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Key points
- Imugene share price soared 5% on the back of European patent approval
- This is further intellectual protection for the company's HER-Vaxx immunotherapy
- Today's news follows recent South Korean patent award
Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU) shares were on the move at the open this morning, soaring 5% to 30 cents before quickly retreating in the first hour of trading.
At the time of writing, the Imugene share price is down 1.75% to 28 cents apiece. It's worth noting that Imugene was heavily sold off in the past week, with the share price falling by roughly 20%.
Let's take a look at the news that the immuno-oncology company released this morning.
Imugene achieves another 'important milestone'
Investors initially bid the Imugene share price up today, following a positive announcement and a rebound across the ASX.
The All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) is travelling 0.4% higher to 7,146 points, after spending this week deep in the red.
According to the Imugene release, management advised it has received a notice of grant from the European Patent Office. This is in relation to the company's HER-Vaxx immunotherapy, which is in development for HER-2 positive gastric cancer.
Earlier this month, Imugene also secured patent approval from the South Korean Intellectual Property Office for the same therapy.
HER-Vaxx immunotherapy is a B-cell activating immunotherapy. The therapy treats tumours that over-express the HER-2/neu receptor. Imugene is designing HER-Vaxx to treat gastric, breast, ovarian, lung, and pancreatic cancers.
This patent approval in a major oncology market is a key step in protecting the company's intellectual property.
The patent protects the method of composition and method of use of Imugene's HER-Vaxx immunotherapy for 15 years.
Imugene managing director and CEO, Leslie Chong said:
Attaining the key European patent is an important milestone and is another major pharmaceutical market to grant patent protection for HER-Vaxx until 2036.
Imugene share price summary
It has been a solid 12 months for Imugene investors, with the company's share price jumping 156%. The share price reached an all-time high of 62.5 cents in November before embarking on a downhill trend.
Imugene presides a market capitalisation of roughly $1.65 billion with approximately 5.81 billion shares on issue.
