The Imugene Ltd (ASX: IMU) share price is trading well into the green in early afternoon trade on Thursday.
At the time of writing, shares in the immuno-oncology company are swapping hands at 23 cents apiece, 4.55% higher on the day.
That compares with a 1.49% lift in the broader S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Sector and a 0.94% jump in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Let's see what's going on with Imugene today.
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Imugene doses first patients in phase 2 trial
Investors are rallying the Imugene share price today following a company announcement.
The company advised it has dosed the first patient in its next Herizon Phase 2 clinical trial.
The trial, at its safety and efficacy stage, is investigating Imugene's immunotherapy candidate, HER-Vaxx in combination with chemotherapy or another drug – pembrolizumab – in patients with HER-2+ gastrointestinal (GI) cancer.
Imugene CEO Leslie Chong said immunotherapies like HER-Vaxx "may hold the solution" to overcoming resistance to treatment for patients with complex GI malignancy.
"With the promising results we've seen from HER-Vaxx thus far, we're particularly eager to take the next step in its development with this trial and ideally improve outcomes for patients with this difficult to treat cancer," she said.
The first patient was dosed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide. At this stage, Imugene is primarily aiming to gauge the drug's safety and response rate [efficacy].
Secondary aims include duration of response, progression-free survival, overall survival, and biomarker evaluation.
The company did not give a timeframe on when its results are expected.
The update continues a long list of progressions for Imugene's HER-Vaxx, as it makes its way through each phase of trials.
Full information on the trial can be found here.
Meanwhile, the Imugene share price remains compressed this year to date, currently down 43%
