MabVax Posters Highlight Why I Like This Story

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Earlier this week, MabVax Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBVX) presented two posters on MVT-1075 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting. MVT-1075 is the companies fully human antibody-based radioimmunotherapy (RIT) currently ready for Phase 1 clinical development, initially being evaluated for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and other CA19-9 malignancies. The posters highlight the excellent preclinical proof-of-concept and manufacturing / scale-up commercial viability of MVT-1075.

I’m a big fan of MabVax and MVT-1075. The preclinical data, which I cover below, look outstanding. I’m also encouraged by the initial clinical data with MVT-5873 (the cold antibody) and MVT-2163 (the PET imaging agent). Finally, there looks to be a number of catalysts on the horizon that should help the stock trend higher. These include presented additional data on MVT-5873 and MVT-2162 and closing a financing transaction to fund operations well into 2018.

Quick Background

MabVax’s proprietary monoclonal antibody (mAb) product candidates are designed to elicit an immune response to highly specific antigens found almost exclusively on cancer cells. The company’s lead antibody candidate, HuMab-5B1, targets CA19-9 positive tumors.

The initial focus is on pancreatic cancer, a logical approach because CA19-9 is the most frequently utilized and only validated serum market for assessment of pancreatic cancers. The CA19-9 antigen facilitates tumor proliferation, invasion, and metastatic spread (1). High serum levels correlate with poor prognosis (2). Importantly, it is found in up to 92% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (3) and is present in high copy number on cancer cells (4), thus making it an attractive molecular target.

The company is taking advantage of HuMab-5B1’s high specificity and minimal off-target binding to develop the drug via multiple pathways: as a therapeutic (MVT-5873), a PET-imaging agent (MVT-2163), and a radioimmunotherapy (MVT-1075) for patients with pancreatic cancer.