COVID may have dominated headlines in 2020 causing at least 3 million deaths as reported by the World Health Organisation, but in the same year nearly 10 million lives were lost to a much deadlier adversary – cancer. Fighting back is clinical-stage biotech company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX: PTX).

“Cancer is a leading cause of death, and aside from the patients themselves, its devastating ripple effect is felt by family, friends and community,” Prescient CEO and MD Steven Yatomi-Clarke said.

“This clinical need also presents a huge commercial opportunity, with the oncology market expected to reach a value of more than US$280 billion (2021).”

In its FY23 Q2 quarterly activities report, Prescient highlighted the possibility of achieving multiple developmental and commercial milestones in 2023 with a backing of a $20.9 million cash balance following a successful Placement and Share Purchase Plan (SPP) in Q2.

A top-up Placement and SPP, both managed by Reach Markets, raised $11.3 million. The funds provide ongoing financial security amidst macroeconomic uncertainty and will be applied to advance Prescient’s deep pipeline of oncology assets. Additionally, the company received an Australian Government Research and Development tax refund of $1.6 million in November 2022.

Cash outflows of $2 million during the quarter were largely invested into research and development ($1.5 million). Costs in the quarter included manufacturing and clinical trials for Prescient’s PTX-100 and PTX-200 targeted therapies as well as the ongoing development of its flagship asset – the OmniCAR platform.

Set to move through clinical trials

According to the company, PTX-100 trials continued to report encouraging clinical responses and an excellent safety profile which they believe , presents a major opportunity to address the unmet needs of a patient group with limited treatment options.

Prescient continued to research and demonstrate how OmniCAR can allow for greater control and more effective targeting of a wider range of cancer tumours when paired with CAR-T therapy, which the company believes is the fastest growing area of oncology.

OmniCAR has advanced through important pre-clinical proof of concept trials which has moved the program closer to its first-in-human studies. The clinical grade cells required for the studies have been produced and Prescient expects to provide more detail in the coming months.

“We think demonstrating OmniCAR’s unique features will attract strong interest among cancer specialists seeking to overcome the limits of current CAR-T therapies and the urgent need for effective new treatments.” said Mr Yatomi-Clarke

‘Prymed’ and ready

CellPryme is another next-generation Prescient technology developed to address CAR-T therapy limitations involving manufacturing, durability and efficiency. The CellPryme-A program is an adjuvant for current and future cell therapies and is now available for testing by potential commercial partners. 

Separate, but complementary, is the CellPryme-M process for enhancing cell therapy manufacturing that results in cell products with superior phenotypes that are longer lasting and more efficacious.

Prescient believes CellPryme can open the door to licensing and commercial collaborations and noted that while such arrangements are challenging and time consuming, interactions with potential partners has been encouraging.

The company has identified catalysts in the coming calendar to work towards across a considerable pipeline in both PTX-100 and PTX-200 targeted therapies and the OmniCAR and CellPryme platforms.

Register your details on the Prescient Therapeutics investor portal to stay up to date with company news and announcements.

Reach Corporate provides Corporate Advisory Services, including managing investor communications on behalf of Prescient Therapeutics Limited and may receive fees for its services.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Sources:

• PTX activities report, December 2022 Activities Report and Appendix 4C
• World Health Organisation, The true death toll of COVID-19
• Bio space, Oncology Market Size to Worth Around US$ 536.01 BN by 2029