FDA allows Hookipa to begin human trial of prostate cancer drug

Hookipa Pharma

25/07/2022 18:00

(Updates buzz)
    ** Shares of Hookipa Pharma  HOOK.O  reverse from premarket
gains of ~15% to trade down ~6% at $1.48
    ** Biopharma co says U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
accepted its application to conduct human clinical trials of
HB-300  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX9Grsn9 
    ** JMP Securities analyst Roy Buchanan says that while the
news is positive for the long term, HOOK shares are getting
swept up in a negative market move
    ** Buchanan adds that with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index
 .XBI  falling about a percent earlier in the day, it seems to
have impacted the smaller companies like HOOK a bit more than
the rest of biotech
    ** HB-300 is an arenaviral therapy, which HOOK is developing
as a treatment for advanced prostate cancer
    ** HOOK plans to begin early-stage studies for HB-300 by
early 2023
    ** Adds that U.S. health regulator also accepted HB-300's
Drug Master File (DMF), which is used to provide detailed and
information about a drug's manufacturing, packaging and storing
    ** Buchanan says acceptance of DMF can be relevant across
HOOK's emerging oncology pipeline as it should help boost
progress to clinic for other candidates as vector data will not
need to be included with each new submission 
    ** Including today's session, stock down ~35% vs a ~18%
decline in XBI YTD 
    

 (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; Outside U.S. +91
9873062788;))