Imugene secures A$0.20 price target from Roth Capital Partners

Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU) (OTCMKTS:IUGNF) welcomes a recent research report from Roth Capital Partners which maintains the company’s 12-month price target of $0.20 compared to the current price of A$0.155. The report author Jonathan Aschoff said the price target was based on a DCF analysis using a 30% discount rate applied to all cash flows and the terminal value - which is based on a 5x multiple of the projected FY2031 operating income of about A$1.6 billion. He said: “We arrive at this valuation by projecting future revenue from CHECKvacc in TNBC, HER-Vaxx in advanced HER2+ gastric cancer, and PD1-Vaxx in NSCLC, products that we project will generate about A$1.7 billion in global royalty revenue to Imugene in FY2031. “Commercial success outside of these financially modelled programs would serve as potential upside to our valuation.” Second PD1-Vaxx dose cohort The report also praised the efficacy and safety results from company’s second PD1-Vaxx dose cohort for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. Aschoff said: "IMU's PD1-Vaxx immunotherapy for generating polyclonal antisera against PD1 is already showing signs of efficacy in a monotherapy trial in advanced NSCLC patients.  “Of the seven patients that received either 10ug or 50ug PD1-Vaxx, there were no signs of SAEs or a DLT, and impressive early efficacy amounting to one CR, four SD, and one PD in an advanced NSCLC setting. I “MU also announced that the Phoenix, Arizona Mayo Clinic received IRB approval to join the Phase 1 PD1-Vaxx trial." Third and final dose cohort The company’s cohort review committee has confirmed that its Phase 1 NSCLC trial for checkpoint immunotherapy candidate PD1-Vaxx may proceed to the third and final dose cohort.  Aschoff said: “Thus far the 10ug and 50ug doses have demonstrated their safety (no DLT or SAEs), and the 100ug dose cohort may enrol.  “In addition to the favourable safety profile thus far, there was also observed clinical efficacy at this early stage as monotherapy, as well as evidence of an immune response to the therapy (i.e., antibodies to PD1) when using validated assays.”  The trial will be conducted at six sites in Australia and the US with each dose cohort to enrol three to six patients.  Phase 2 HER-Vaxx trial  Aschoff said: "We look forward to additional results from the Phase 2 HER-Vaxx trial in gastric cancer this month at AACR, as well as the start of IMU's VAXinia and CHECKvacc programs, which are advancing toward the clinic, and will potentially enrol a broad range of solid tumour patients and be given intravenously or intratumorally (VAXinia), or exclusively given intratumorally to metastatic TNBC patients (CHECKvacc).  “We also note that IMU affiliates will present preclinical animal results from the CF33 oncolytic virus program at AACR this month".