Surface Oncology (SURF) is currently up 80% on it’s Merck (MRK) collaboration for cancer study, the company says.
Why is Surface Oncology (SURF) up 73%?
The company announced yesterday that it has entered into an agreement with Merck to collaborate on cancer studies. The purpose of this collaboration is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining Surface’s SRF617, an investigational antibody therapy targeting CD39, with Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the first anti-PD-1 therapy approved in the United States.
This combination will be studied as a component of the first-in-human Phase 1/1b study of SRF617 and will be evaluated in patients with solid tumors, with a focus on patients with gastric cancer and those who have developed resistance to checkpoint inhibition — both areas of high unmet need.
Surface is committed to delivering truly breakthrough therapies that can transform treatment for people with cancer. This collaboration with Merck will add an important dimension to our clinical program for SRF617, and allow us to more rapidly assess its potential, We have demonstrated in preclinical studies that the inhibition of CD39 results in substantial activation of both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. Encouragingly, we also found that activation is heightened in combination with anti-PD-1 treatment and that this combinatory approach has the potential to overcome anti-PD-1 resistance.
Robert Ross, M.D., chief medical officer at Surface Oncology
SRF617 inhibits CD39, an enzyme critical both to the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the production of adenosine. A substantial body of research supports a role for CD39 in allowing cancer to evade immune responses.
For example, in gastric cancer, immune cells within the tumor often express high levels of CD39, which may impair an overall anti-cancer immune response even in the presence of an anti-PD-1 antibody. The combination of SRF617 and KEYTRUDA has the potential to overcome this barrier to immune system activation and promote anti-tumor immunity.
Surface Oncology (SURF) utilizes full $30 million at-the-market facility
Today, the company just announced that it will begin utilizing it’s $30 million at the money facility.
The proceeds that it has raised which is approximately $28.9 million through its At-the-Market, or ATM, facility with participation based on interest received from EcoR1 Capital LLC, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, BVF Partners L.P., and RS Investments, a Victory Capital investment franchise.
Surface Oncology sold approximately 10.9 million shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $2.66, the market price at the time of the sale. This transaction exhausts the balance on the $30 million ATM facility. JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC is acting as the sales agent for the ATM facility.
These funds strengthen Surface Oncology’s balance sheet and will be used to advance its pipeline, including the clinical development of SRF617 (targeting CD39) and SRF388 (targeting IL-27), and the advancement of SRF813 (targeting CD112R, also known as PVRIG), as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Surface Oncology (SURF): A great investment?
Shares of Surface Oncology 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.
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