Oncology developer Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) is developing PTX-100 and is in the middle of a Phase 2 trial. PTX-100, is the world’s first GGTase-1 (geranylgeranyl transferase-1) inhibitor to enter clinical development, and it is currently the only drug of its kind being evaluated against relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (r/r CTCL) – an aggressive form of lymphoma for which there are few treatment options. PTX entered Phase 2 on the basis of promising Phase 1 results – including a 100% Clinical Benefit Rate (CBR) and >12 month Mean Duration of Response (DoR); and has made meaningful progress in recent months.

75% of sites initiated

As of the end of April, PTX has initiated 12 of the 16 sites and has enrolled 18 patients, nearly half of the 40 patients planned for the dose-optimisation of the trial. A further 75 will be enrolled in the next phase. The pace has sped up since European sites were brought on line following regulators granting Orphan Drug Status to PTX-100.

Plenty to look forward to

Even though results may be some months away, the company continues to progress closer as it enrols patients and initiates sites. As the trial continues, other initiatives include a collaboration with the CSIRO to better model PTX-100’s mechanism of action, and continued business development discussions for its OmniCAR and CellPryme platforms. It has $11.9m cash as of the end of the most recent quarter.

Increased valuation of A$0.18-0.25 per share (was A$0.11-0.16)

We update our valuation of PTX at $0.18-0.25 per share (was A$0.11-0.16 previously) based on a sum-of-the-parts NPV framework incorporating PTX-100 and CellPryme, but we have tweaked a number of our inputs, which have changed since our initiation note. The current share price implies approximately 203% upside to our base case and 323% upside to our bull case. Please see page 12 for the key risks.