3rd Oct 2019 14:25
(Alliance News) - NetScientific on Thursday said its investee PDS Biotechnology Corp will collaborate with healthcare giant Merck & Co Inc in a clinical trial of its lead cancer prevention drug.
Shares in NetScientific rose sharply by 46% to 9.15 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
PDS Biotechnology, which is working on the PDS0101 product, will work with a Merck subsidiary in the second phase of its clinical study.
The trial will evaluate the effectiveness PDS Biotechnology's PDS0101 as a treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer and high-risk human papillomavirus-16 infection.
The study, which is due to begin in the first quarter of 2020, will also incorporate Merck's Keytruda antibody used in cancer immunotherapy.
The study was initially not going to feature Merck's collaboration but the parties agreed to modify the study after Keytruda received clearance from US regulators in June.
NetScientific Chief Executive Ian Postlethwaite said: "This collaboration advancing PDS0101 into phase II studies clearly demonstrates the strength of the results from PDS's initial phase I studies for PDS0101. Merck is renowned in the field of immuno-oncology, and PDS0101 when working in combination with their leading treatment for cancer, Keytruda, has the potential to offer a new and exciting therapy for patients suffering from these devastating diseases."
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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