Stock Watch: Iovance Biotherapeutics Soars On TIL Therapy Updates

(RTTNews) - Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc. (IOVA) are up more than 25% in pre-market trading on Thursday, following updates from ongoing clinical trials including new interim data from phase II study of LN-145 in patients with advanced cervical cancer and phase II study of Lifileucel in advanced melanoma.

The phase II study of LN-145 in patients with advanced cervical cancer, dubbed innovaTIL-04 study, showed an overall response rate (ORR) of 44 percent and a disease control rate of 89 percent. At 3.5-month median study follow-up, 11 out of 12 patients maintained a response, added the company. It should be noted that the ORR for Merck's blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda used in second line cervical cancer patients is 14 percent.

Updated results from Cohort 2 in the ongoing phase II study of Lifileucel in advanced melanoma, dubbed innovaTIL-01, demonstrated an ORR of 38 percent and a disease control rate of 76 percent.

LN-145 and Lifileucel are investigational tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL)-therapies.

The Company also announced that the first melanoma patient has been dosed in its phase II IOV-COM-202 study, where the TIL therapy is being evaluated in combination with Keytruda.

IOVA closed Wednesday's trading at $11.23, up 3.89. In pre-market trading on Thursday, the stock is up 25.56% to $14.10.