Why Is Cancer Therapy Focused Evaxion Biotech Stock Trading Higher Today?

Evaxion Biotech A/S EVAX announces an expanded commitment to developing tailored cancer vaccines by targeting a novel category of AI-identified tumor antigens named Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs).

ERVs are remnants of ancient viruses lying dormant in a human genome. ERVs are often overexpressed in cancer but not in healthy tissue, making them visible to the immune system and hence promising targets for cancer vaccines. 

AI-Immunology is crucial in identifying therapeutically relevant ERV tumor antigens from genomic patient tumor data.

Evaxion says the new treatment opportunity may broaden the applicability of cancer vaccines, and treating patients unresponsive to conventional cancer immunotherapy may become possible. 

Evaxion has initiated preclinical activities with a goal of generating Proof-of-Concept data by the second half of 2024.

Evaxion Biotech stock is trading higher on heavy volume with a session volume of 1.95 million, compared to an average volume (100 day) of 33.377K, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

In December, Evaxion Biotech closed its previously announced private placement of $5.3 million, including participation from existing and new shareholders, with the largest new shareholder being MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, a corporate venture capital arm of Merck & Co Inc MRK accounting for some 25% of the total aggregate offering amount. 

In November, the company, for the first time, presented its AI model designed to predict patient responses to cancer immunotherapy at the Biomarkers & Precision Oncology Europe conference.

The model demonstrated promising potential for improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs and is scalable for broader applications.

The company said it will pursue a partnership-based approach towards a commercial offering.

According to an SEC filing on Tuesday, Merck & Co Inc MRK reported 11.4% stake in Evaxion as of December 21, 2023.

Price Action: EVAX shares are up 97% at $9.29 on the last check Wednesday.