Wall StreetYahoo Finance today reported Stocks on Wall Street...

Wall Street

Yahoo Finance today reported Stocks on Wall Street rebounded Friday afternoon, with the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure showing a continued cooling in pricing pressures in the US economy. According to Yahoo the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index out Friday morning showed that on a "core" basis — which strips out food and energy — prices rose 4.1% over the prior year in June, the least since September 2021. The data follows CPI numbers earlier this month that showed core inflation rose 4.8% over the prior year. On a "headline" basis — which includes food and energy — both PCE and CPI showed prices rose 3% over last year.

Risk is now back in vogue as fears of further rate hikes and a US recession continue to subside.

Money is now starting to flow into smaller cap stock’s, as exemplified by the bounce in the Russell 2000, up close to 2%, as was the Nasdaq index of Biotechnology stocks. Cash is returning from the sidelines as investors chase dividend, as opposed to cash yields, with many betting on growth in the years to come.

Imugene and growth stocks

Imugene benefits from upticks in growth, as do all small to medium size organisations, as fund managers assume more risk in their balanced and growth portfolios. Seeking out and identifying stocks with growth potential is the job of financial analysts working for institutions, busy luring investment into their funds through solid past performance results. Yet ultimately Imugene’s appeal stems from not it prospective growth upside, but from clinical trial results. With this in mind IMU shareholders breathed a sigh of relief last week upon hearing trial results are looking pretty darn good, according to Imugene’s esteemed partner, Professor Yuman Fong of the City of Hope Cancer Research Facility in California. Professor Fong said the latest results emanating from his Vaxinia trial into up to 100 solid tumour patients, were “really quite remarkable.” Further data from the current Vaxinia Trial is due in the ensuing months, from which Team Imugene is set to determine which solid tumour type, or types, they are going to seek product approval for from the FDA in the US.

Professor Fong’s Visit

Last week Imugene’s CF33 and Vaxinia founder Professor Fong went on to state he sees his treatment becoming human therapy one day, as a universal treatment for cancer, in combination with a plethora of existing CAR T, MAB’s, ADC’s and other drugs. Therefore the future could not be more promising for investors in Imugene (IMU ASX). They now have to but sit and wait for upcoming inflection points to register on the ASX announcement list. The forthcoming first patient dosed announcement in Imugene’s forthcoming Oncarlytics Trial, is one such announcement company CEO and Managing Director Leslie Chong is eagerly awaiting. Leslie sees oncarlytics as a potential game changer when it comes to treating solid tumours in cancer patients. Oncarlytics has pre-clinically enabled the oncolytic virus CF33 to identify, hunt and kill solid tumours, through painting a CD19 expressing target on these tumours. The insertion of a CD19 transgene effectively making these solid tumours a “bullseye” for the incoming CF33 virus to infect, replicate and destroy. Its all mind blowing stuff when one considers 90% of all cancer diagnosis include a solid tumour element, many of whom have no cure. This is a huge unmet need for which the Team at Imugene is working tirelessly to meet.

Inflection points for Imugene

Other inflection points on the IMU announcement trail include increases in the dosage rates of Vaxinia and indeed CF33, in order to ascertain the optimal biological dosage rate for both drugs. Once the optimal dose rate is known Imugene can move toward fast tracking a Phase 2 registrational trial for their drug(s), opening up access to the public through registered medical practitioners and oncologists.

Existing Imugene trials for which the optimal biological dose rate has already been established include Her Vaxx and PD1 Vaxx, both currently in combination trials with big pharma’s Merck (Keytruda) and Roche (Tercentriq) respectively. Announcements pertaining to the results from these trials are sure to renew interest in the IMU stock, as both B cell vaccines were successful in curing some patients of late stage cancer, when dosed at relatively low dose rates in their initial Phase 1 trials. If indeed Imugene’s vaccines are seen to extend the life of gastric and lung cancer patients with little or no added side effects to that of Keytruda and Tercentriq, then they too may be viewed by the FDA as significant breakthrough therapies worthy of fast track approval into production. When you put this all into perspective, as someone said to me yesterday “After what Professor Fong has acknowledged in recent weeks, why isn’t the stock worth dollars?” To be honest I couldn’t really answer them, suffice to say it probably is, before prefacing with the results are coming. I did mention to them that over 100 years ago an original strain of Vaxinia cured patients of the Cow Pox Virus, which at the time had a fatality rate of 30%, close to twice that of cancer. Therefore if Vaxinia does indeed hold the key to open the door on a cure for cancer, now over a hundred years later, then Yuman Fong shall be hailed as hero, with the IMU share price being a mere sideshow.

Imugene and the road ahead

When you put this all into perspective, as someone said to me yesterday “After what Professor Fong has acknowledged in recent weeks, why isn’t the stock worth dollars?” To be honest I couldn’t really answer them, suffice to say it probably is, before prefacing with the results are coming. I did mention to them that over 100 years ago an original strain of Vaxinia cured patients of the Cow Pox Virus, which at the time had a fatality rate of 30%, close to twice that of cancer. Therefore if Vaxinia does indeed hold the key to open the door on a cure for cancer, now over a hundred years later, then Yuman Fong shall be hailed a hero, with the IMU share price being a mere sideshow.

DYOR Seek investment advice as and when required Opinions only


P.s This week the company announced HER-Vaxx and CF33 oncolytic virotherapy CHECKVacc will feature at the upcoming ESMO Congress, to be held in Madrid on 20-24 October 2023, which could be perceived as yet another inflection point with the publishing of further trial date expected.