Health and Healthcare

Advaxis Soars on Positive Survival Results

Chris Lange

Published: March 21, 2016 11:40 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:42 am

Advaxis Inc. (NASDAQ: ADXS) made waves in the markets on Monday following the release of positive data from its most recent study. The company announced that data from a dose-escalation study of ADXS-HER2 in canine osteosarcoma was published online March 18, 2016, in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor in dogs, with over 10,000 dogs annually diagnosed. Osteosarcoma is also the most common bone cancer in children and teens. It is the third most common cancer in teens after lymphomas and brain tumors.

HER2 is expressed in roughly 40% to 60% of pediatric and canine osteosarcomas and in pulmonary metastatic disease, providing strong rationale for HER2 targeted immunotherapy in these cancers.

This treatment with ADXS-HER2 reduced the incidence of metastatic disease and prolonged survival relative to a historical control group. The median survival time for the ADXS-HER2 treated dogs was 956 days, which was significantly longer than the 423 day median survival time of the historical control group.

Dr. Nicola Mason, Ph.D., BVetMed, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, commented:

This is promising and important research both for dogs and humans. We were able to use the Advaxis Lm Technology to induce an antigen-specific T-cell response against HER2/Neu which is expressed in both canine and pediatric osteosarcoma, with only low-grade, transient side-effects. I am very excited about these results and the potential this technology holds for treatment of cancer patients of either species.

Shares of Advaxis were trading up about 16% at $9.57 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $24.17 and a 52-week trading range of $5.21 to $30.13.