Benzinga | May 7, 2021 12:02PM EDT

Medicenna's MDNA55 Data From Mid-Stage Brain Cancer Study Published In Peer-Reviewed Clinical Cancer Research

* Medicenna Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ: MDNA) announced the peer-reviewed publication of clinical data from its Phase 2b trial evaluating MDNA55 in recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM).

* The Phase 2b trial evaluated MDNA55, an interleukin-4 (IL-4)-guided toxin, as a treatment for rGBM, the most common and uniformly fatal form of brain cancer.

* Results show that the median overall survival (OS) was 11.8 months, which is longer than what would be expected from the approved drugs carmustine (OS of 5.1 -- 7.5 months), lomustine (OS of 7.1 -- 9.8 months), or temozolomide (OS of 5.4 -- 9.9 months).

* Notably, the data also shows a potential link between patients experiencing radiographic progression and those exhibiting insufficient MDNA55 penetration into the tumor, suggesting that at least a portion of patients who did not respond well to MDNA55 may have benefited from higher drug concentrations.

* These analyses supplement previously presented findings observed in Medicenna's proposed patient population showing an 81% tumor control rate (26/32) and a median OS of 15.7 months, which represents a >100% improvement compared to an external control arm (median OS of 7.2 months).

* Medicenna is currently pursuing a partnership strategy to facilitate MDNA55's further development through the planned Phase 3 clinical trial.

* Price Action: MDNA shares are up 5.4% at $3.7 during the market trading hours on the last check Friday.