Inovio Initiates Bladder Cancer Study With Roche's Tecentriq

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. INO announced that it has initiated a phase Ib/II study to evaluate the combination of two immunotherapy candidates and Roche Holding AG’s RHHBY anti-PDL1 inhibitor, Tecentriq in advanced bladder cancer. Inovio’s candidates include INO-5401, a T cell activating immunotherapy and INO-9012, an immune activator.

The study will specially focus on advanced unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma ("UC"), which is the most common form of bladder cancer.

Shares of the company have lost 10.6% so far this year, underperforming the industry’s gain of 12.4% in the period.

The multi-center study will be conducted by Inovio and Roche will be responsible for supplying Tecentriq for the study through its subsidiary Genentech. The study is expected to enroll 80 patients approximately with majority having received prior treatment with an anti-PD-1 or PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor but failing to achieve meaningful response.

Inovio will evaluate the potential benefit of treating advanced bladder cancer through a combination of a checkpoint inhibitor, a DNA-based immunotherapeutic and a T cell activator. The study will also provide more information on how the immune system works in a bladder cancer patient on T cell activation and checkpoint inhibition.

Although multiple checkpoint inhibitors are approved for treating UC, only a small number of patients are responsive to them. An associate professor at Harvard Medical School believes that the combination of checkpoint inhibitor with T cell activator will bring significant improvements.

INO-5401 activates T cell for multiple types of cancer including bladder cancer and INO-9012 helps to increase and accelerate T cell immune responses to INO-5401.

Per the recent press release, it is estimated that almost 430,000 are diagnosed with bladder cancer with 165,000 deaths worldwide every year. With high unmet medical need in UC, a new therapy with improved response and survival rates and impacting a large section of the population will be welcomed by the medical community.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price and Consensus

 

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price and Consensus | Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Inovio carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated LGND and Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS. Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ligand’s earnings per share estimates have remained stable for 2017 and increased from $3.68 to $3.70 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprise in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 6.19%. Share price of the company has increased 49.5% year to date.

Exact Sciences’ loss estimates have remained stable for 2017 and 2018 over the 30 days. The company came up with positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 38.75%. The share price of the company has increased 253.3% year to date.

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