NexImmune Pauses Developing Multiple Myeloma Hopeful, Citing Competition

NexImmune Inc NEXI cited the competitive environment in the blood cancer space as the reason for pausing enrollment for NEXI-002 in multiple myeloma.

The biotech referred to "recent product approvals and the competitive environment in the relapsed refractory multiple myeloma space." as the reason for moving resources away from NEXI-002. 

A phase 1/2 study of the experimental therapy, which uses patient-derived T cells in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma, was due to finish at the end of the year, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.

Last week, Bristol Myers Squibb Co BMY trumpeted positive data for the CAR-T therapy Abecma for multiple myeloma. Abecma is in a tight race with Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Legend Biotech Corp's LEGN BCMA-targeted CAR-T Carvykti.

Against this backdrop, NexImmune chose to focus on disease areas that the most prominent players don't quite as dominate. 

NexImmune is currently enrolling patients in the final dose cohort for NEXI-001 in the Phase 1/2 trial for relapsed AML after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. The latest readout from the study is expected in the fourth quarter.

The other candidate benefiting from NexImmune's reprioritization strategy is NEXI-003, the company's first solid tumor product for HPV-related cancers. The FDA has cleared the therapy to enter human trials, which the biotech expects to begin by the end of the year.

"In parallel, we continue to progress on our IND-enabling work for the AIM injectable modality, an 'off-the-shelf' multi-antigen specific approach to treating malignancies and autoimmune diseases, which we believe has the potential to be disruptive," NexImmune CEO Kristi Jones said. "We will provide an update on these early programs through the end of the year."

NexImmune held cash and securities of $53.1 million at the end of June.

Price Action: NEXI shares are down 1.67% at $1.24 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.