From today's Times:

Tiddler to watch

"ImmuPharma, steady at 46p, the biotech group which has a treatment of the disease Lupus in phase II trials, could benefit from the failure this week of trials of rival drug Rituxan. ImmuPharma's housebroker, Panmure Gordon, believes its client may attract the attention of Rituxan's developers, Genentech and Biogen Idec."

OK, I know we're all heartily sick of the promising small pharmacos, but I thought I'd bring this one to your attention because the demise of one much-hyped drug can indeed have a positive knock-on effect elsewhere. Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be much medication out there for Lupus.

This company is run by experienced people who have previously worked for some of the majors like GSK, Bristol-Myers Squibb, etc, and in investment banking. Their research results have been positive so far.

I made a good profit on these last year and the sp seems to have turned up again recently. Bought back again this morning. (NB: too small to trade in CFDs)

Terrible market conditions so best left alone I feel

Now looks like it could drop to 78/80p support area.

Could have turned - nearly bought at 78p this morning but didn't. I'll see if it holds over the weekend.

I bought 10,000 last Thursday at 82p and another 2,500 this morning at 85.5p. I think we have a change of direction.

I thought about it at 81p a few days ago but the awful spread made me leave it alone.

Yup not good but I went for it.

Well, I sold all 12,500 (after 4 months) at 91p yesterday afternoon (up about 10% - no droolers please) and bought AVN which has made 5% already and has legs to go.

ImmuPharma's Lupuzor has blockbuster potential, reckons broker Cenkos
2:25 pm by Ian Lyall The broker is predicting peak sales potential of US$2 billion based on some fairly conservative assumptions Cenkos this morning initiated coverage of ImmuPharma (LON:IMM) with a ‘buy’ recommendation and 232 pence-a-share price target.

Navid Malik, the City broker’s respected head of life sciences, points out that ImmuPharma is in an enviable position for biotech in having a “phase-III ready asset”.

He was referring to Lupuzor, a potential treatment for the sometimes fatal auto-immune disease Lupus.

Taking it through the clinical stages of development to phase III means the group is in a position to maximise the value when it does finally find a partner willing to take on the further development of Lupuzor.

The US approval process should be far less treacherous than it might be for other drugs.

That’s because Food & Drug Administration has granted ImmuPharma approval to start the next phase of development with a Special Protocol Assessment.

This SPA is an important sign-off on the company’s clinical trial protocols.

The agency is essentially saying that, assuming no unforeseen issues, it will approve the drug if it matches or exceeds certain criteria.

Since this all happens before the data is generated, FDA tends to be conservative when handing out SPAs.

ImmuPharma has also received sign-off in Europe and Japan that will allow it move into the final clinical trial stage.

Cenkos said it has analysed Lupuzor and believes it has blockbuster potential.

This is primarily because it may eventually prove more efficacious than treatments currently on the market, such as the recently launched GlaxoSmithKline drug, Benlysta, and those currently making their way out onto the market.

The broker is predicting peak sales potential of US$2 billion based on some fairly conservative assumptions.

“We have analysed the Lupus market and believe that despite competitor products beginning Phase III trials, the mechanism of action for Lupuzor is unique and could position it as a blockbuster in the Lupus market,” said Malik.

In IPP-204106, the group also has a phase II cancer drug that has shown some “very promising survival data”, the analyst added.

“The data from preclinical studies is compelling, particularly in tumours that are difficult to treat, where the peptide demonstrated broad-spectrum anti-tumour activity,” he explained.

At 11.40am, the shares were changing hands for 54 pence (down 0.88 pence on the day), which is towards the bottom of its recent trading range.

The unveiling of a partner for Lupuzor would undoubtedly be a major catalyst for the stock.

Of course ImmuPharma previously had a deal for Cephalon that was worth as much as US$500 million in milestone and revenue payments.

However, the US biotech was forced to hand back the rights to the treatment following its takeover by Israeli group Teva.

Cenkos believes ImmuPharma could go down a similar route and find a new commercial partner willing to make a significant upfront payment, milestones and royalties to acquire the Lupuzor rights.

However there is an alternative.

“If it were to fund the product and complete the last phase of clinical trials using a contract research organisation, then instead of seeing a ‘teens’ based royalty on sales, we could see a much larger share of the potential upside – perhaps a revenue share model where net sales were split 50:50 and a contract sales force (specialist) was used to market the product,” Malik said.

“We already know that the bulk of sales in similar indications tend to come from specialist doctors and this often requires a much smaller and focused sales force – which means that there isn’t always a requirement for a large pharma sales team.”

Notification of Interim Results


http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4448448

Starting to recover, strong buying today. Up 8% today

12.5% rise today

up nearly 10%

:-))

Interim Results

INTERIM HIGHLIGHTS



· LupuzorTM, our candidate for the treatment of lupus which has been granted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration to begin Phase III trials under Special Protocol Assessment with Fast Track designation, continues to be the subject of licensing discussions with a number of possible partners



· IPP-204106, ImmuPharma's cancer programme, has begun dosing in a new clinical trial with the next generation of 'polyplexed Nucant'. This 'polyplexed Nucant' formulation has shown an impressive efficacy of about 10 times over the previous Nucant version in pre-clinical cancer models and represents a newly discovered form using the previous Nucant version together with a specific excipient that forms micro/nano structures (see separate announcement released today)



· IPP-204106, final results are available for the Phase I/IIa clinical trial where 6 out of the 14 patients had proven stabilisation with stabilisation lasting more than 6 months in 2 of the 6 patients. No serious drug related adverse events were reported



· Received the New Economy award for Best Medical Research and Development Company Europe 2012



· Strong cash position of £10.1 million



· Basic and diluted loss per share 2.17p and 2.17p respectively (30 June 2011: 2.59p and 2.59p).



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4452077

RNS
RNS Number : 1519N
Immupharma PLC
26 September 2012



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
26 September 2012




ImmuPharma plc



Cancer programme IPP-204106 progresses into further clinical trials



First cancer patients in new trial begin dosing



ImmuPharma plc (LSE:IMM) ("Immupharma" or the "Company" or the "Group"), the specialist drug discovery and development company, is pleased to announce that its cancer programme IPP-204106 has begun further clinical trials with the next generation of "polyplexed Nucant".



The first patients have started dosing in this new Phase I/II clinical trial.This "polyplexed Nucant" formulation has shown an impressive efficacy of about 10 times over the previous Nucant version in pre-clinical cancer models and represents a new discovery in that it combines the previous IPP-204106 Nucant version with a specific excipient that forms micro/nano structures. IPP-204106 has a novel mechanism of action aimed at preventing proliferation, inducing apoptosis and also controlling angiogenesis.



ImmuPharma has made promising progress with its anti-cancer nucleolin antagonist ("Nucant") peptide programme. Having received approval from the French regulatory authorities, Agence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire des Produits de Sante (AFSSAPS) it initiated an initial Phase I dose ranging tolerability and safety study in three hospitals in France which is now completed. Patients were suffering from different types of cancer including breast, lung and bladder cancers which had all metastasised. No serious drug related adverse events were reported. 6 out of the 14 patients had a proven stabilization and for 2 out of the 6 the stabilization lasted for more than 6 months.

For this next Phase I/II study based on the next generation "polyplexed Nucant", it is planned to re-evaluate the safety in a preliminary Phase I dose ranging tolerability study with the new formulation (first dose level about to be completed shortly) followed by a Phase II efficacy study designed to treat various cancers in approximately 30 patients to identify appropriate biomarkers. This trial will be conducted in three hospitals in Europe including the prestigious Institute Jules Bordet, an Integrated Multidisciplinary Centre which is the only autonomous hospital in Belgium totally dedicated to cancer. Our further intention is to conduct follow-up studies on patients showing the appropriate biomarkers with glioblastoma (brain tumour), metastatic melanoma, and pancreatic cancer where nucleolin plays a key role.

Recent scientific publications have demonstrated that by interfering with the pathway of nucleolin and other related membrane proteins, a strong growth inhibition of cancer cells as well as a strong induction of apoptosis was observed confirming initial results. In May 2011, IPP-204106 (also referred to as N6L) was chosen to feature on the front cover of 'Cancer Research', a prestigious medical journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The article was entitled 'A Simple Approach to Cancer Therapy Afforded by Multivalent Pseudopeptides That Target Cell-Surface Nucleoproteins', and was authored by a number of researchers working at or with the CNRS, the research institution with which ImmuPharma is collaborating.



Dr Robert Zimmer, MD, PhD, ImmuPharma's President and Chief Scientific Officer, commented: "The clinical development of our cancer programme continues to be a key priority for ImmuPharma. It is therefore extremely encouraging to see the first patients dosed in this new trial. The improved formulation of the "polyplexed Nucant" is a great achievement for both ImmuPharma and our partner, the CNRS, and further strengthens our position in this field."

Good buying, keeping a close watch on this. Saw a sell rec yesterday due to late news

:-))

On wednesday - peel hunt said sell.

Immupharma (Berlin: 25I.BE - news) falls 4.8 percent as the drug discovery firm posts first-half results in which it says licensing discussions for its Lupus treatment, Lupuzor are continuing, leading Peel Hunt to repeat its "sell" rating on the stock.

ImmuPharma to present Lupuzor data later this month
8:15 am by Ian LyallImmuPharma is currently looking for a partner to take Lupuzor into the final phase of clinical trials.



ImmuPharma (LON:IMM) confirmed this morning that it will present data on its lead drug candidate Lupuzor to the prestigious annual American College of Rheumatology meeting later this month.

The ACR recently confirmed it had accepted the group’s abstract paper on phase IIb data from the Lupuzor trial.

The presentation will be given on November 14 by ImmuPharma’s chief scientific officer Robert Zimmer and Professor Daniel Wallace of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, a leading authority on Lupus.

Lupuzor was developed to treat the chronic autoimmune disease Lupus and has blockbuster potential.

It has also been given fast-track designation by America’s all-powerful Food & Drug Administration.

The company is currently looking for a partner to take Lupuzor into the final phase of clinical trials.

sp likely to go to sleep until the results of the lupuzor trials become imminent
given the likely high volatility, i have just sold the balance of my trading position at 130 for a modest profit, but shall retain the medium stake in my sipp