Arovella and Imugene therapy kills cancer in a test tube

It’s not science fiction - two cutting edge cancer therapies worked together to kill solid tumour cells in a test tube.

This in vivo (test tube) study was a significant milestone for our biotech Investment Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA):

In vivo (test tube) studies for Solid Tumour Therapy (with Imugene) ✅

This means ALA can now progress to the next stage of their preclinical research program.

Today was the first indication that ALA’s partnership with the ~$911M capped Imugene is bearing fruit and we see it as validation that the two companies’ technologies are complementary.

We’re certainly rooting for ALA, and the next step for ALA will be to show that the company’s ALA’s CAR19-iNKT cell therapy (ALA-101) and Imugene’s onCARlytics therapy (CF33-CD19) kills solid tumour cells in vivo (in mouse models).

While we are cognizant that scientific research doesn’t progress in a linear fashion, we are hoping to see the mouse study data mid 2023.

ALA will also be looking to publish the in vivo data at a suitable conference - we think its important that ALA’s research program is complemented by greater awareness in academic and industry circles.

Solid tumours make up ~90% of diagnosed cancers - and treating them is effectively a “Holy Grail” for oncology.

In rough terms - Imugene’s therapy lays down a marker for ALA’s iNKT cell therapy to get to work and hunt down and kill the solid tumour cells.

iNKT cells are the human body’s most potent, naturally occurring immune cells.

Potential benefits of ALA’s iNKT technology include:

• It’s “off the shelf” - meaning the treatment doesn’t need to draw cells directly from the patient themselves i.e be “tailored”; and
• The treatment naturally suppresses GvH disease (where the body rejects the donor’s cells)

Meaning it could radically alter the economics of existing cancer cell therapy treatments - current T cell therapy costs over $500,000 per patient (source).

The upshot - if ALA can successfully advance its iNKT cell therapy in combination with Imugene’s onCARlytics therapy, cancer cell therapy could become more effective, more widely available and cheaper.

This is what a potential treatment would look like in a human:

We’re Invested in ALA to see it successfully get to a Phase 1 clinical trial with this combination therapy and we think this could be a major catalyst for the ALA share price.

For a full rundown on ALA’s current preclinical research pipeline (including their two other promising therapies) see our latest ALA note.

What’s next for ALA?

In vitro (mice) studies for Solid Tumour Therapy (with Imugene) 🔄

The next step after test tube studies, this will see how the treatment works and if it is safe in a living organism.

Commence a Phase 1 clinical trial Solid Tumour Therapy (with Imugene) 🔄

We see this as the ultimate end goal for ALA right now, and it relies on successful mice studies.