Why Mersana’s Cancer Study Is Huge

By Chris Lange Published May 27, 9:42AM EDT

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Why Mersana’s Cancer Study Is Huge — © Bojan89 / Getty Images

Mersana Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN) shares jumped on Wednesday after the company reported interim results from its early-stage cancer study. Those results come from its Phase 1 study evaluating XMT-1536 in patients with ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung (NSCLC) adenocarcinoma.

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, 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.

With a data cutoff of May 1, 2020, these data include 34 patients total, 27 with ovarian cancer and seven with NSCLC adenocarcinoma. Patients with ovarian cancer had a median of three prior lines of treatment, and patients with NSCLC adenocarcinoma had a median of two lines of therapy.

Note that this data will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2020 Virtual Scientific Program.

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Anna Protopapas, president and CEO, 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.

Mersana stock traded up 30% to $14.00 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $1.32 to $15.89. The consensus price target is $12.60.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.