AURA - Aura sheds 16% after Phase 2 data for eye cancer therapy

Aura Biosciences, Inc. ( NASDAQ: AURA ) dropped ~16% on Monday after the oncology-focused biotech announced interim data for eye cancer candidate belzupacap sarotalocan from a Phase 2 trial for patients with early-stage choroidal melanoma.

The trial, designed to evaluate up to three cycles of treatment through subcutaneous administration as the first line therapy, enrolled 20 adult patients.

Those in the 40 ?g and 80 ?g/dose cohorts demonstrated an 88.9% (8/9) tumor control rate and a statistically significant reduction in the tumor growth rate compared to the patients’ reported growth rate at the initiation. The patients had received three cycles of therapy with an average of six months of follow-up.

The investigators did not report any dose-limiting toxicities or treatment-related severe adverse events. However, one patient in the highest 80 ?g/dose cohort discontinued the trial due to an unrelated serious adverse event.

AURA plans to use data in support of its pivotal program. “We believe that the data to date provides proof of concept for an additional intraocular route of administration and further supports belzupacap sarotalocan’s target product profile,” the company’s medical chief Cadmus Rich remarked.

The data readout was part of a presentation at the ongoing American Academy of Ophthalmology 2022 Annual Meeting, currently being held in Chicago, IL.

JMP Securities launched its coverage on AURA with an Outperform rating in July citing the potential of the company’s virus-like drug conjugates (VDC) platform.

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