Celldex Begins Phase I Trial On Cancer Candidate CDX-1140
Zacks Investment Research | Dec 01, 2017 05:51AM ET
Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX) announced that it has started patient enrollment in a phase I study, evaluating its new candidate, CDX-1140, for treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors. Notably, CDX-1140 is a fully human antibody that targets CD40, an immune response activator.
Shares of Celldex have increased more than 1% following the news release. However, the stock has underperformed the industry so far this year. Shares have lost 15.2%, comparing unfavorably with industry’s 2.6% increase during the period.
The study is expected to enroll a total of 105 patients with recurrent, locally-advanced or metastatic solid tumors. It is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of CDX-1140 at different dose levels ranging from 0.01 mg/kg to 3.0 mg/kg once every four weeks until disease progression or intolerance.
Significantly, the company is also planning to evaluate the combination of CDX-1140 with other anti-tumor agents.
We remind investors that last November, Celldex presented positive pre-clinical data on CDX-1140 at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting. The trial outcomes demonstrated that CDX-1140 binds to CD40 with high affinity and does not block CD40 ligand binding. It also showed direct anti-tumor activity in immune-deficient mice with human lymphomas.
Apart from CDX-1140, Celldex has another interesting candidate in its oncology pipeline called varlilumab. The candidate is being evaluated in combination with Bristol-Myers' (NYSE:BMY) Opdivo in a phase II study including cohorts in five indications namely, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma and glioblastoma. Celldex plans to complete enrolment across all cohorts in the phase II portion of the study in the first quarter of 2018.
Other promising candidates are CDX-1401/CDX-301 (phase II — multiple solid tumors; in collaboration with CITN) and CDX-014 (phase I — advanced renal cell carcinoma) among others.
Importantly, Celldex expects CDX-1140 to add stimulus to the company’s growing immunotherapy pipeline.
Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
Celldex carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Two other top-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CORT) and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) , both carrying a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see .
Get The News You Want
Corcept’s earnings per share estimates have moved up from 78 cents to 88 cents for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 14.32%. The share price of the company has increased 147.1% year to date.
Achillion’s loss per share estimates has narrowed from 65 cents to 63 cents for 2017 and from 74 cents to 67 cents for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company came up with positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 4.51%.
5 Medical Stocks to Buy Now
Zacks names 5 companies poised to ride a medical breakthrough that is targeting cures for leukemia, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and other conditions.
New products in this field are already generating substantial revenue and even more wondrous treatments are in the pipeline. Early investors could realize exceptional profits.
Zacks Investment Research
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.