Scancell

Third collaboration for AvidiMab platform

Lighthouse | 20 January 2020

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  • Scancell has signed another collaboration and non-excusive research agreement for its AvidiMab monoclonal antibody (mAb) platform. The un-named partner is a US-based clinical stage antibody specialist and it will assess Scancell’s anti-TaG mAbs, including those enhanced with AvidiMab, for the treatment of various forms of cancer.
  • The AvidiMab platform consists of specialised monoclonal antibodies that selectively bind to glycans (carbohydrate elements on proteins or lipids). The technology was described in detail in an Update note (September 2019) when the first collaboration was announced.
  • Tumour-associated glycans (TaGs) are an attractive, but virtually untapped, pool of oncology targets as they are often highly tumour-specific. AvidiMab offers the potential to create antibodies that kill tumours directly, without the intervention of the immune system; which could be particularly valuable in patients with “cold” tumours.
  • Scancell acquired the core IP for AvidiMab and the anti-TaG mAbs in April 2018 from Nottingham University. It has since strengthened the data package around both the antibodies and the AvidiMab platform itself, with greater preclinical validation of their potential and additional IP.
  • The announcement of a third agreement in such a short space of time highlights the appeal of the technology to an industry that is actively seeking novel drug targets.
Trinity Delta view: The AvidiMab technology and associated anti-TaG antibodies are clearly becoming a valuable addition to Scancell’s key existing technology platforms, ImmunoBody and Moditope. Whilst these remain the company’s main assets and have considerable clinical and commercial potential, we see AvidiMab bringing additional near-term value. Initially this may take the form of non-dilutive funding for the ImmunoBody and Moditope clinical programmes; however, successful preclinical evaluations could transform these currently non-exclusive agreements into more meaningful partnerships.

For the time being, and in line with our conservative stance, we have not included AvidiMab in our DCF-based model and maintain our valuation at £82.0m or 17.2p/share.

Lighthouse

20 January 2020

Price6.25p
Market Cap£29.1m
Primary exchangeAIM London
SectorHealthcare
Company CodeSCLP
Corporate clientYes

Company description

Scancell is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology specialist that is developing two innovative and flexible therapeutic vaccine platforms. ImmunoBody and Moditope induce high avidity cytotoxic CD8 and CD4 responses, respectively, with the potential to treat various cancers.

Analysts

Lala Gregorek
lgregorek@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5043

Franc Gregori
fgregori@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5041

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