Benzinga | Apr 12, 2021 07:33AM EDT

Phio Pharma's Intasyl Platform Shows Promising Tumor Control Activity In Animal Studies

* Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ: PHIO) announced new preclinical data for the Intasyl platform in tumor settings.

* These data were presented today during the AACR Annual Meeting 2021.

* Data showed that local intratumoral (IT) delivery with the murine PD-1 targeting Intasyl (mPH-762) inhibits tumor growth in a dose-dependent fashion in PD-1 responsive and refractory animal models, compared to control-treated tumors.

* Furthermore, on-target efficacy was supported by the modulation of immune cell populations toward antitumor phenotypes.

* The company believes Intasyl mPH-762 can provide strong local immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) without the dose immune-related adverse effects (irAEs) seen with systemic ICB antibody therapy.

* Phio is planning to start the first-in-human clinical study of PH-762 as a directly administered drug in patients with advanced melanoma, scheduled to begin by the end of this year.

* Local intratumoral administration can mitigate dose-limiting systemic side effects. All Intasyl treatments were well tolerated.

* See the AACR poster here.

* Price Action: PHIO shares are down 1.8% at $2.69 in the premarket on the last check Monday.