Now that a
potential immunotherapy deal is
potentially on the cards (dunno if it was such a good idea WP talked the deal up given the propensity for timelines to be pushed out by counter-parties), I thought it worthwhile we revisit information that was previously provided in company releases and I think the last Patersons report.
HPV Head and Neck Candidate Preclinical Results
Just a refresher on the pre-clinical mouse model results for our HPV head and neck candidate.
In TC-1 tumour model,
our candidate produced
100% survival &
87.5% (7/8) had no detectable tumours after
50 days. In comparison, a
competitor candidate (ADX-HPV vaccine) produced
0% survival after 50 days. Adding a
checkpoint inhibitor to this competitor candidate, this survival rate only increased to
20%.
http://clients2.weblink.com.au/clients/admedus/article.asp?asx=AHZ&view=6700912
In 2015, Medimmune subsequently partnered with Advaxis (the company who owns the above competitor candidate) to combine Medimmune's checkpoint inhibitor (Durvalumab) with Advaxis' ADX-HPV vaccine. Financial details of the tie-up is not known. The Phase 2 trial is ongoing.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/partn...-a-growing-roster-of-immuno-oncology-partners
Other HPV Head and Neck Candidate Deals
A couple of weeks after the above deal was announced, Medimmune announced a further tie up with Inovio's HPV vaccine candidate which was at the Phase I/II stage (1b/2a). Couldnt find mouse results for Inovio's HPV vaccine to compare it to our results above unfortunately. The deal was to combine Medimmune's checkpoint inhibitor (Durvalumab) with Inovio's candidate.
This deal included an upfront of
$27.5 million, plus
$700 million in milestone payments and
double-digit royalties on sales.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/deals/...27m-to-get-its-hands-on-inovio-cancer-vaccine
Observations & Extrapolations
1. Okay, our preclinical results were clearly better than Advaxis, and Advaxis managed to tie up with Medimmune (subsidiary of Astrazeneca). So, thats a tick for us.
2. Inovio managed to get a great out-licensing deal for a relatively early stage candidate. So, that's another tick for us.
3. From the AGM, the words used by WP sorta implies the possibility of a capital injection or a candidate out-license. I havent seen many examples of the former but plenty of the latter.
4. If its a capital injection, is it a health fund or Big Pharma? Re the former, I think it highly unlikely a fund like the Gates Foundation would be involved as our candidate doesnt neatly fit in with their core funding priorities. Re the latter, if Big Pharma takes equity in Ademdus Immunotherapies that sorta means they commit to the odd coupling of immunoncology and herpes?
5. If the deal is an out-license, its more than likely that our HPV candidate will be tied up with a checkpoint inhibitor (like the deals above) by Big Pharma so what happens to poor herpes?
6. I take it any money generated from a potential deal goes straight to Admedus Immunotherapies and is completely quarantined from Mothership Admedus.
(20min delay)