Shares in Scancell, a developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, surged on Thursday morning following publication of the group's results from its clinical vaccine trials.
The stock jumped 13.4% to 55p by 10:07, pulling back after an earlier high of 58p.
The results provide the first evidence that Scancell's ImmunoBody vaccine approach is producing an immune response in cancer patients which may also be associated with clinical benefits.
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Preliminary results from Part 1 of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its DNA ImmunoBody vaccine in patients with Stage III/IV malignant melanoma were encouraging. Of the six patients allocated to the 2mg and 4mg dose cohorts and who received at least four doses of SCIB1, four showed a vaccine-induced T cell response to treatment.
Although the study was not designed primarily to measure tumour response, one patient in the 4mg dose cohort with multiple tumour lesions at study entry had a differential response to treatment including partial or complete regression of all lung metastases.
A further two patients who had all their tumours surgically removed prior to SCIB1 treatment have remained disease-free more than a year after first dosing. The vaccine produced very few side effects, none of which were serious.
Dr Richard Goodfellow, Joint Chief Executive Officer of Scancell Holdings, commented: "This is a defining moment for Scancell. These preliminary yet encouraging results provide the first clinical endorsement for the groundbreaking cancer vaccine research undertaken by Scancell under the scientific leadership of Professor Durrant.
"We will continue to gather additional longer term data on these patients and those in Part 2 of the study during 2013."
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