February 20, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
OSLO, Norway – The year is looking promising for Norwegian blood cancer company Nordic Nanovector.
In an interview with Reuters, Chief Executive Officer Luigi Costa said the company has attracted some potential suitors for acquisition and partnerships. Which companies have expressed interest, Costa did not say.
Following Costa’s statement, shares of Nordic Nanovector jumped nearly 14 percent on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Shares are trading at 101 Krone as of 10:06 a.m., which is about $12.13. Nordic Nanovector has a market cap of about $480 million.
Any deal for or with Nordic Nanovector is likely to hinge on the company’s ongoing trials of its Antibody-Radionuclide-Conjugates (ARC) Betalutin, which is being developed for the treatment of relapsed non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Betalutin includes a tumor-seeking anti-CD37 antibody, lilotomab (previously referred to as HH1), conjugated to a low intensity radionuclide (lutetium-177), according to a company statement.
At the 58th Annual American Society of Hematology meeting in December 2016, Nordic Nanovector announced ongoing data from a Phase I/II trial of Betalutin showed “promising efficacy and favorable safety profile as a single agent.” The experimental therapy is being provided to 38 patients have failed multiple prior drug regimens. The preliminary data showed 35 of the patients who were “evaluable for efficacy” showed an overall response rate of 63 percent, with 29 percent of patients showing complete responses.
“These new data confirm the promising results for Betalutin, including durable responses in a number of patients… and continue to demonstrate an encouraging clinical profile as a single agent for treating patients with relapsed NHL. The results also support escalating to a higher dosing regimen in the final stages of this Phase I/II study that will allow us to decide an optimal dosing regimen for the pivotal Phase II study, PARADIGME, expected in Q1 2017,” Lisa Rojkjaer, Nordic Nanovector’s chief medical officer said in a December statement.
If the data continues to hold up through the clinical trials, then the company could become even more of an enticing target. Costa told Reuters that Nordic Nanovector leadership has had numerous discussions with companies about a potential acquisition or partnership.
“We talk a lot with companies, and as the data improves and the company develops, the more interest we have, that’s for sure. If the already good data continues to be confirmed, I think the interest will grow,” Costa told Reuters.
Nordic Nanovector, which was founded in 2009, anticipates having its first regulatory submission for Betalutin in the first quarter of 2019, the company said in December.
In addition to the treatment of relapsed non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Nordic Nanovector is exploring Betalutin’s efficacy as a potential treatment for relapsed Follicular Lymphoma (FL) and relapsed Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma.
