Why Is Marker Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MRKR) Stock Up 745% In 3-Month?
The clinical-stage immuno-oncology company firm Marker Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MRKR) is a specialist in the development of the new generation of T cell-based immunotherapies. Those immunotherapies are meant for treating hematological malignancies as well as indications of solid tumors.
Marker Therapeutics’ cell therapy technology is predicated on the expansion of selected non-engineered, tumor-specific T cells which can recognize tumor-related antigens. It eventually exterminates those cells. The Marker stock has performed strongly in recent times and the trend continued yesterday as it soared by another 83% amidst considerable interest. That took the gains made by the stock over the past three months to a staggering 745%.
On July 10 Marker Therapeutics announced that its multi-tumor-associated antigen-specific T cell product zedenoleucel, named MT 401, had been awarded orphan drug designation by the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The designation was granted with regard to treating those suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
It should be noted that AML is a life-threatening disease. It is debilitating in a chronicle way and progresses rapidly, thereby leading to fatal consequences it not treated adequately. Additionally, the relapse rates for the disease are high as well. The MT 401 product deploys a unique non-genetically modified methodology that identifies a range of antigens that are expressed on tumor cells. It is designed in such a way that tumor escape is minimized.
The product is currently going through the Phase 2 clinical trial for helping with the treatment of patients who had had a relapse of AML. Orphan drug designation is awarded in the European Union for conditions that may be life-threatening or lead to chronically debilitating situations. It affects 5 in 10000 people in the jurisdiction. The orphan drug designation from the EMA was a major development for Marker since it would provide the company with the right motivation to speed up the market readiness and development of the product.
On June 26 the company made the announcement about another major development with regards to MT 401. The company announced at the time that it had been provided with a grant worth $2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The grant is specifically meant for the development of the product so that patients suffering from AML could be treated effectively.
In March this year, the company had come up with clinical updates from the ARTEMIS clinical trial that it had sponsored. The trial revealed the potential benefits of the product in patients suffering from AML, who still may have measurable residual of the disease. Since the company got favourable responses from those patients Marker had decided to move forward with the investigation into clinical opportunities which could improve the patient outcomes in those afflicted with AML. One of those opportunities that was revealed by the company at the time was to combine multi TAA specific T Cell therapy with those agents which may make cancer cells more visible to those cells which kill cancer.
