Mersana Therapeutics (MRSN) is currently trading up 56% today at the time of writing, here’s why it’s rising today!
Investors liked the numbers that Mersana reported from its early-stage study. Patients receiving XMT-1536 achieved a 35% objective response rate (tumor reduction by a pre-specified amount).
Ten percent of patients with ovarian cancer experienced complete remission after taking XMT-1536. The disease control rate (proportion of patients with complete response, partial response, or stable disease) was 80%.
In addition, XMT-1536 appeared to have a pretty good safety profile. Mersana Therapeutics CEO Anna Protopapas said the drug was “generally well tolerated, without the dose-limiting toxicities of other ADC platforms such as severe neutropenia, neuropathy and ocular toxicity.”
All of these results were also really early. The interim results reflected data from only 20 patients with ovarian cancer. Mersana didn’t report any information from the other 14 patients in the study, seven of whom have ovarian cancer and seven of whom have non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma.
Mersana Therapeutics (MRSN) attends American Society of Clinical Oncology
Mersana plans to present the interim data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2020 virtual scientific program this Friday. An even bigger catalyst for the biotech stock could be on the way: Mersana anticipates reporting more data from the early-stage study of XMT-1536 in the second half of 2020.
The company’s President and CEO Anna Protopapas commented, “These data demonstrate not only that XMT-1536, our first-in-class Dolaflexin ADC targeting NaPi2b, can deliver confirmed complete responses, partial responses and durable stable disease in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, but also that these responses can deepen over time in a patient population with poor prognosis and limited treatment options…XMT-1536 continues to demonstrate that it is generally well tolerated, without the dose-limiting toxicities of other ADC platforms such as severe neutropenia, neuropathy and ocular toxicity. These are encouraging signals as we look forward to reporting more mature data in the second half of the year and continuing to advance XMT-1536 for both platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and NSCLC adenocarcinoma patients.”
The firm advised that “the expansion portion of the Phase 1 study is enrolling patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who have received up to three lines of prior therapy and in some cases four lines of prior therapy regardless of platinum status as well as patients with NSCLC adenocarcinoma who had received prior treatment with platinum-based therapy and immunotherapy or targeted agents.” The company stated that the interim data reported covered 34 patients including 27 with ovarian cancer and 7 with NSCLC adenocarcinoma.
The company highlighted some of the key findings in the study including that XMT-153 achieved a 35% objective response rate, including 10% complete response rate and 80% disease control rate among 20 evaluable patients with ovarian cancer.The firm stated that XMT-1536’s safety profile was consistent with previously reported dose escalation data and no new safety signals were observed. Additionally, the firm advised that promising antitumor activity was observed in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and that the data continue to support a NaPi2b biomarker-based patient selection strategy.
Conclusion: is Mersana Therapeutics (MRSN) a Reliable investment?
Shares of Mersana Therapeutics appear to be a very good investment option, with Wall Street analysts expecting its price to rise considerably in the next several months. The majority of the metrics point to this investment being highly attractive.
