Zhou summed up Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc.'s (CBMG:NASDAQ) recent activities in an Aug. 9 research report. "CBMG's cell therapy programs continue to make progress," she wrote. "We expect to see data from both the CARD-1 and CALL-1 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) studies by 2017E, setting the stage for a value inflection as CBMG becomes a Phase 2 CAR-T player."
The analyst also noted the company has enough cash to get to that stage. "CBMG ended the period with $27M in cash," Zhou noted. "At the current burn rate, we estimate CBMG has sufficient capital to fund through topline data releases (by 2017E) from its CARD-1 and CALL-1 studies, which should represent catalysts for the stock."
She reiterated what the company's two China-based Phase 1 studies consist of:
1. Initiated in Q1/17, CALL-1 is a "dose-escalation study (n=9) that uses the optimized proprietary C-CAR011 construct of CD19 CAR-T therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory CD19+ B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. . .Good data should translate into a larger Phase 2 trial," Zhou wrote.
2. CARD-1 is a "nine-patient, dose escalation study evaluating safety efficacy and C-CAR011 cell persistence in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. . .Patient enrollment (n=9) is currently underway," said Zhou.
In other news, Cellular Biomedicine "received a $2.3M award from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support the company's allogeneic human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells AlloJoin for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis in the U.S.," indicated Zhou.
Looking forward, by the end of 2017, the biomedicine firm "expects to have a combined 70,000 square feet of GMP manufacturing space between Shanghai, an expanded Wuxi-based facility and the facility in Beijing," said Zhou. "These three facilities could simultaneously support clinical development of five CAR-T and stem cell therapy products, or up to 10,000 patient CAR-T treatments and 10,000 stem cell therapies per year."
These developments are the result of Cellular Biomedicine's previously announced collaboration with GE Healthcare Life Sciences China, Zhou added, "to co-develop industrial control processes in CAR-T and stem cell manufacturing."
Maxim Group has a Buy rating and 12-month target price of $18 per share on the company. Its stock currently trades at roughly $8.50 per share.
Want to read more Life Sciences Report articles like this? Sign up for our free e-newsletter, and you'll learn when new articles have been published. To see recent articles and interviews with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.
Disclosure:
1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
2) The following company mentioned in this article is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports: None. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers.
4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.
5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article.
Additional disclosures about the sources cited in this article
