Percheron Therapeutics (ASX:PER) is a clinical-stage Australian immuno-oncology company which is progressing to Phase 2 in 2026.

The magic of supressing VISTA

HMBD-002, is a monoclonal antibody targeting VISTA, a next-generation immune checkpoint. VISTA can suppress T-cell responses to cancer treatments and the idea is that by ‘drugging VISTA’, cancer treatments can be more efficacious. VISTA was previously considered ‘undruggable’ due to side effects caused by its suppression, but HMBD-002 overcomes this. Pre-clinical studies and Phase 1 have confirmed this, particularly when it works with blockbuster PD-1 inhibitor drugs such as Merck’s Keytruda. As observed in previous notes, PER completed Phase 1 and HMBD-002 passed with flying colours, having a clean safety profile, no dose-limiting toxicities and encouraging early signs of durable response in heavily pre-treated patients.

Phase 2 is coming soon

The next step is Phase 2, and this will be big for Percheron. The first enrolment will begin later this year, the company just presented the full Phase 1 data at the AACR 2026 in San Diego and will present further data to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in the coming weeks. The presentation is putting HMBD-002 in front of the research community in the way it has not before, and we would not be surprised to see research and/or commercial collaborations eventuate before the end of 2026. Such a move would assist the company in gaining additional expertise and potentially even non-dilutive sources of funding in the form of up-front and milestone payments. We also wouldn’t be surprised to be interest from companies with PD-1 inhibitor drugs facing the ‘Patent Cliff’ in the next few years.

Valuation of $0.052 with further upside possible

We have tweaked our valuation of Percheron to $0.052 per share (previously $0.064 per share). We have still used a peer-weighted approached, but our valuation now accounts for the increased number of shares on issue as well as the changes in valuation of many of PER’s peers. We believe further upside could be possible subject to clinical success, based on our various NPV scenarios for HMBD-002’s ultimate commercialisation. As goes without saying, key to realising the upside will be successful execution. Please see page 10 for more details on our valuation and page 11 for the key risks.