Yahoo Finance Pyxis (PYXS) Up on Advancing Cancer Therapy Candidates
Pyxis Oncology PYXS announced that it has dosed the first patient in a phase I study of PYX-106, a fully human immunotherapy antibody candidate. The company's shares rose 4.15% on the pipeline progress. The same has surged 143.3% in the year so far against the industry’s 4.2% decline.
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PYX-106 aims to inhibit the activity of Siglec-15, an immune suppressor present in various tumor types.
The early-stage study named PYX-106-101 is an open-label, multicenter study that evaluates the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary efficacy of PYX-106 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The candidate received investigational drug clearance from the FDA in December 2022.
Additionally, Pyxis initiated a second dose level study in an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) product candidate — PYX-201. The candidate is being evaluated in a phase I study, referred to as PYX-201-101, for patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors that express extradomain-B (EDB) of fibronectin, a component of the extracellular matrix found in tumors.
PYXS’ proprietary ADC technology was licensed from Pfizer PFE in December 2020. The agreement with PFE became effective in March 2021, for which PYXS paid a combined licensing fee of $25 million.
Pyxis expects to obtain preliminary data from both the ongoing phase I studies, including biomarker results and early indications of clinical activity, in late 2023 or early 2024.
Both PYX-106 and PYX-201 are promising therapeutic candidates with unique mechanisms of action. In preclinical studies, PYX-106 demonstrated broad immune activation and strong binding affinity.
PYX-201, on the other hand, adopted an ADC approach to specifically target the EDB of fibronectin, which is overexpressed in many solid tumors.
Pyxis recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire Apexigen APGN for approximately $16 million. APGN specializes in developing innovative antibody therapies for oncology with the use of its proprietary antibody platform, APXiMAB.
Its lead product candidate, sotigalimab, is in a phase II study, and being developed for various cancer indications. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2023.
Pyxis Oncology, Inc. Price and Consensus
Pyxis Oncology, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Pyxis Oncology, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank and Stock to Consider
Currently, Pyxis carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the same sector is ADMA Biologics ADMA, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Loss per estimates for ADMA have narrowed from 19 cents to 9 cents for 2023 in the past 60 days. Shares of ADMA have risen 4.1% in the year-to-date period.
ADMA Biologics’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and met the mark in one, delivering an average surprise of 19.3%.
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