(BFM Bourse) – The presence of the French specialist in nanomedicine at the largest medical congress dedicated to the fight against cancer (the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology) gives the Nanobiotix stock a new opportunity to rebound.
Tens of thousands of participants from all over the world, five full days – a record for a medical congress – of presentations and exchanges between practitioners from different specialties (clinicians, radiologists, pathologists, researchers, etc.): the ASCO’s annual meeting, which takes place every early June in Chicago, is undeniably the biggest event of its kind. It is also a proliferation for innovation, where biotechs have the opportunity to present their solutions and if possible convince specialists of the interest in deploying them.
The French Nanobiotix, which relies on the physical properties (therefore indifferent to biological variability from one individual to another) of nanoparticles to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy, had already announced in May that the selection committee of the congress of the ASCO had retained three presentations of studies carried out on its flagship product NBTXR3, which had led to a jump in the stock of 4.5% that day.
Since then, however, the price has fallen by 20% in the space of a month, registering last week a new low since March 18, 2020. It must be said that Nanobiotix has been undergoing a generally downward trend since a multi-year peak reached at the beginning of 2021: at this stage, the action could well complete a sixth consecutive quarter of decline at the end of the month. An exceptional sequence, which has never happened since the IPO of the company.
Application in head and neck cancer
On Monday, the title nevertheless recovered by 7.39%, to 4.94 euros around 11:20 a.m., while the congress was in full swing, giving Nanobiotix a new opportunity to highlight its development strategy, aimed at being able to integrate the ” radio-enhancer” NBTXR3 in the therapeutic management of all solid tumours, whatever the line of treatment (first intention or subsequent attempts) and the modalities of management. The firm (which has already obtained marketing authorization in soft tissue sarcoma, but has chosen not to market the product yet) is conducting trials in various cancers, currently focusing on a particularly serious form, the head and neck cancer, where the therapeutic need is extremely important.
Nanobiotix presents at ASCO new data highlighting the potential of NBTXR3 in combination with chemotherapy in the treatment of head and neck cancer and rectal cancer, as well as a poster describing the pivotal study of phase 3 “NANORAY-312” in progress.
These data relate in particular to a phase 1b/2 trial (intermediate stage of clinical trials) conducted in Asia by a former partner, PharmaEngine, in twelve people with locally advanced or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. These patients received a single intratumoral injection of NBTXR3 before low-dose chemoradiation. Preliminary efficacy results showed a disease control rate of 100% (i.e. patients minimally saw the extent of tumors stabilize), with an overall response rate of 58 .3% (percentage of patients whose tumor has shrunk by predefined proportions) according to RECIST 1.1.
Have a complete approach that will be used in other indications
In another indication, colorectal cancer (the third most common indication worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the US), patients received neoadjuvant NBTXR3 combined with chemo-radiotherapy followed by surgery in 32 affected patients. locally advanced or unresectable rectal cancer. Of the 31 patients whose treatment effect could be assessed, the preliminary efficacy results showed a disease control rate of 100%, with an overall response rate of 35.5%. A decrease in the tumor was observed in 14 of the 31 patients after the treatment, 25 of the 31 patients were operated on and 96% had “R0” surgical excision, i.e. the entire tumor could be removed. (excision in “healthy margins”). A complete pathological response was then observed in 20% of operated patients.
“Along with the clinical data already produced with NBTXR3 activated by radiotherapy and combined with an anti-PD-1, the new data on the combination with chemotherapy, presented at ASCO, contribute to the prospect of integrating NBTXR3 into the management overall cancer therapeutic burden.While continuing to prioritize our ongoing pivotal phase III study in frail elderly patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, our goal is to construct an approach complete treatment of this cancer, which will serve as a model for our radioenhancer in other indications”, underlined Laurent Levy, founder and president of Nanobiotix.
Guillaume Bayre – ©2022 BFM Bourse
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