Health Check: Island Pharmaceuticals raises funds to put the mozz on dengue fever outbreak

Island Therapeutics says its fresh funding will support completion of its current trial of its drug candidate for the virulent disease dengue fever.  

Pic via Getty Images

• Big biotech names support Island Therapeutics raising

• Radiopharm eyes FDA approval to start a therapeutic pan-cancer trial

• Truscreen’s cervical cancer diagnostic cracks a nice mention

Health Check is renowned biotech journo Tim Boreham’s daily wrap covering morning movers and shakers of note in the ASX Healthcare sector, Monday through Thursday.

Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA) has raised $3.5 million in a two-tranche placement to achieve its “near term inflexion points”, notably completing its current phase 2a/b dengue fever study.

The raising was struck at 7 cents per share, a 12% discount, with one attached options for every share issue at the same price. Half of the oppies expire within 12 months of issue; the other half within 24 months.

Subject to shareholder approval, the placement was supported by well-known biotech names including Dr Daniel Tillett, the head of cancer drug repurposer Race Oncology (ASX:RAC).

Hong Kong-based fund manager, Angus Walker also chipped in, as did Island co-founder and major investor, Dr Bill Garner, substantial shareholder Jason Carroll and recently appointed director Chris Ntoumenopolous.

The company’s key trial, Protect, has both a prophylactic (preventative) and therapeutic arm, with results from the former expected by the end of the year.

Affecting 400 million people annually, the mosquito-brone dengue fever is synomous with poorer tropical geographies. But climate change means the incurable viral disease it’s spreading to places such as Florida and – gasp – northern Queensland.

Like the cane toad, it’s expected to spread southwards.

Island shares this morning vaulted 37% to 11 cents.

It’s all happening in nuclear medicine: RAD eyes US cancer trial

Armed with a “strong preclinical data package”, nuclear medicine house Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD) is confident of gaining US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) consent to start a first-in-human trial of its B7-H3 targeting radiobody called Betabart.

A cancer marker, B7-H3 is an immune checkpoint molecule overexpressed in several tumour types and is “a highly-attractive target for antibody-based cancer immunotherapy". Left to run amok, B7-H3 spurs “tumour aggressiveness”, which is not a good thing.

The therapy is being developed by Radiopharm Ventures, a 51% Radiopharm-owned joint venture with the Texas -based MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Expected to kick off in mid-2025, the phase I/II trial would cover multiple tumour types.

“Multiple preclinical studies with Betabart show tumour shrinkage and prolonged survival in animals treated with this radiotherapeutic agent,” the company says.

Combined with Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant production of the molecule, this data is deemed to be enough for the FDA to give the trial go-ahead. The company has also secured supply of the requisite isotope, 177-lutetium, which is half the challenge.

As withs larger commercialised cousin Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX), Radiopharm is all about combining a molecule and an isotope to form a radioactive tracer, which is then detected by scans such as positron emission tomography (PET).

Radiopharm has programs covering the use of several different isotopes with agents to target cancer biomarkers including PDL-1, HER-2, the integrin alpha V beta 6 peptide (AVB6) and the fatty acid synthase.

Targeted diseases include brain cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and breast, gastric and pancreatic cancers.

“The thinking was to do something different in the space … and bring innovation to the market,” CEO Riccardo Canevari said recently.

The company’s most advanced program is for a brain metastases imaging tool, which targets a fatty acid overexpressed in cancerous cells but not healthy ones.

Having completed a small phase II, trial the company has submitted an FDA application to carry out a 30-patient phase 2b trial on American shores

Telix has an approved imaging agent for prostate cancer and expects to win US consent for a kidney cancer variant, while it is also developing therapies.

In the words of Bill Lawry – sorta -  “it’s all happening in nuclear medicine”.

Radiopharm is well cashed up for the challenge, having raised $70 million of capital in June by way of a $62.5 million insto round and a $7.5 million strategic investment from Nasdaq-listed radio imaging giant Lantheus Holdings.

Radiopharm shares were steady at 2.8 cents.

WHO just mentioned Truscreen in an authoritative report?

Cervical diagnosis outfit Truscreen Group (ASX:TRU) has cracked a mention by The WHO – not the band we referenced yesterday but an arm of the authoritative World Health Organisation.

The body in question is the UNITAID, the WHO arm promoting health products for low and middle income countries.

Trucreen is cited in the self-evidently titled technology landscape report: “screening  and  treatment  of  pre-cancerous  lesions for secondary prevention of cervical cancer.”

Based on opto-electrical methods, the Truscreen device uses light frequencies transmitted though the cervical tissue, with the resistance level of the cell characterising the tissue. This is called electrical impedance spectroscopy.

The device obviates the issues around traditional methods of PAP tests and cytology, including failed samples, patient discomfort and the need for a nearby lab.

 To date the underlying the algorithm has been ‘trained’ on more than 40,000 women “in multiple geographical and ethnic settings.”

Truscreen was the only opto-electrical device mentioned in the report, prepared by UNITAID in  collaboration  with  the  Clinton  Health  Access  Initiative (CHAI), the University of Sydney’s  Daffodil Centre at the University of Sydney and  the  Australian  Centre  for  Prevention  of  Cervical  Cancer.

“The  inclusion  in  this  report  aligns  with  our  strategy  to  focus  on  countries  with  poor  or  no  screening capabilities,” the company says.

Truscreen has been included in Chinese cervical cancer, obstetrics and gynaecology guidelines, as well as the Vietnam Ministry of Health national technical list.

Truscreen is also approved for use in Mexico’s public health system.

Truscreen shares were steady at 2 cents.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Island Pharmaceuticals is a Stockhead advertiser at the time of writing, it did not sponsor this article. 

Originally published as Health Check: Island Pharmaceuticals raises funds to put the mozz on dengue fever outbreak