Atreca spikes as H.C. Wainwright welcomes updated data for cancer drug

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The shares of micro-cap biotech, Atreca (BCEL +46.1%) have added more than a third in morning hours on Friday after the company updated early-stage data for its lead cancer candidate ATRC-101 with its Q4 2021 results yesterday.

In the Phase 1b study designed to study the experimental monoclonal antibody in selected solid tumors, there was a partial response (PR) in the monotherapy cohort with a confirmed complete response (CR) in the combination arm with Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda, the company said.

With no dose-limiting toxicities, ATRC-101 was found to be well tolerated among 47 participants who had been dosed as of data cut-off on Feb. 15.

Jonathan Benjamin, Atreca’s (NASDAQ:BCEL) Senior Vice President, Clinical Research, remarked: “Among participants with evaluable baseline tumor biopsies, tumor burden reduction was achieved exclusively in those with high ATRC-101 target expression.”

The selection of trial subjects based on target expression will be important for future studies on the therapy, Dr. Benjamin added, noting that the process would begin mid-2022.

Commenting on the update, H.C. Wainwright analyst Joseph Pantginis points to the rising potential of the therapy with time as more patients are added to the study. “…we look forward to specific tumor expansion cohorts led by biomarker selection,” Pantginis concluded, reiterating the Buy rating and the $25 per share target on the stock.

Read more on the previous data update from the study.