Hookipa Shares Jump On New Preclinical Data On Cancer Immunotherapies

HOOKIPA Pharma Inc HOOK has announced preclinical data demonstrating potent T cell responses, combination use beyond PD-1 inhibitors, and the ability to break immune tolerance to various self-antigens for targeting cancers. 

• Preclinical data show that combining co-stimulatory 4-1BB agonists with arenaviral immunotherapy increased tumor control and resulted in a higher cure rate than arenaviral immunotherapy alone. 
• Combining arenaviral immunotherapy with a 4-1BB agonistic antibody resulted in complete tumor rejection in 30% of mice following treatment. 
• Improved tumor control and cure rates of up to 50% were also observed with a 4-1BB ligand integrated into the arenaviral vector.
• A separate preclinical analysis offered additional evidence of potential combination with other modalities. In this analysis, replicating arenaviral immunotherapy was sequentially combined with adoptively transferred TCR transgenic T cells, which resulted in tumor cures in all mice receiving combination therapy, with 100% survival at the end of the experiment (60 days after administration).
• These preclinical data further support the clinical entry of HOOKIPA's HB-300 candidate for prostate cancer. The company intends to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application in Q3 of 2022.
• Price Action: HOOK shares are up 11.8% at $1.98 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.