What happened?
Shares of TCR2 Therapeutics (TCRR) -- a clinical-stage biotech company that focuses on cancer treatments -- are up by 29.6% as of 11:34 a.m. EDT on Monday following the company's release of interim data for an ongoing clinical trial for one of its leading pipeline candidates.
So what
TCR2 Therapeutics' TC-210 is currently undergoing a phase 1/2 clinical trial for mesothelin-expressing solid tumors. Today, the company released interim data for the first five patients treated in the phase 1 part of this study. According to the biotech, every patient showed tumor regression, including two RECIST (response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, which is a way to measure how well a cancer patient is responding to the treatment) unconfirmed partial responses and two patients with stable disease through six months.
Image source: Getty Images.
Said Garry Menzel, CEO of the company:
We are delighted that our very first dose of TC-210 induced consistent tumor regression and clinical benefit in heavily pre-treated cancer patients. There are very few options for patients with solid tumors and those expressing mesothelin represent a significant frontier of unmet medical need.
Now what
It is worth noting that the patients enrolled in TCR2 Therapeutics' clinical trial have undergone therapy before but to no avail. Given this factor, the positive results the company published today are all the more encouraging. Even so, there is still a long road ahead for TCR2 Therapeutics; with no products on the market and no candidate currently in a late-stage trial, this biotech stock still seems like a risky bet.
