Scopus BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: SCPS) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA approved its IND (investigational new drug) application on Monday for CpG-STAT3siRNA – its distinctive immuno-oncology RNA therapy that targets multiple types of cancers.
Impact on the share price
Following the announcement, Scopus BioPharma jumped roughly 200% in the stock market on Monday morning. The company touched a high of $15.42 per share (£10.90 per share) and is currently exchanging hands at $12.54 per share. In comparison, Scopus had started the year 2021 at a per-share price of $13.41.
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Scopus debuted on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in December of 2020 at a per-share price of $5.92. Earlier in May, the stock printed its record low of $5.17 per share. At the time of writing, the U.S biotech company has a market capitalisation of $198 million.
Scopus to launch Phase 1 clinical trial at City of Hope
The company also highlighted in its statement on Monday that it will launch a Phase 1 clinical trial focused on B-cell non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at the world-renowned, private clinical research centre, City of Hope.
The candidate drug was also developed at City of Hope laboratories under the supervision of Dr Hua Yu and Dr Marcin Kortylewski. Dr Yu co-heads the immunotherapeutics program and is also the Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Professor in Tumor Immunotherapy at Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope. Dr Kortylewski works as an associate professor at the Department of Immuno-Oncology.
Scopus BioPharma signed a licensing agreement with the California-based, not-for-profit research and treatment centre that focuses on life-threatening diseases, including diabetes and cancer, in 2020. Commenting on the partnership, Dr Kortylewski had said at the time:
“Our laboratories were the first to demonstrate that successful cancer immunotherapy needs to be two-step since TLR9 immunostimulation is only effective when STAT3 in the tumour microenvironment is no longer active,†Kortylewski added. “It is exciting to see this technology approaching clinical application with a strong ally in biopharma.â€
An overview of Scopus and its candidate drug
Founded in 2017, Scopus is a U.S. based biopharmaceutical firm that relies on innovative scientific and medical discoveries to develop transformational therapeutics. Its CpG-STAT3siRNA is a combination of immunotherapy and RNA therapy that synthetically couples siRNA with a TLR9 oligonucleotide agonist for immune activation via TLR stimulation with simultaneous targeted gene silencing in the tumour microenvironment.
