Surface Oncology: Rises on Roche tie-up to study liver cancer therapy

Surface Oncology

04/06/2021 13:26

** Drug developer's shares  SURF.O  rise 6.5% to $9.65
premarket
    ** Co announces clinical trial collaboration with Roche
 ROG.S  to evaluate its investigational anti-IL-27 antibody 
SRF388 in patients with a type of liver cancer called
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNXmLTyR
    ** Co to study SRF388 in combination with Roche’s
atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with treatment-naïve
HCC
    ** Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab has been shown to
significantly improve overall survival and is the new standard
of care for unresectable or metastatic HCC - co
    ** Says evolving data suggest a significant role for the
immunosuppressive cytokine IL-27 in HCC 
    ** IL-27 is a kind of protein released by the body to signal
the immune system to do its job, but in some tumor types,
including liver, kidney and lung cancer, IL-27 appears to
contribute to resistance to treatment 
    ** Co also reports positive preliminary efficacy and safety
data for SRF388 in a separate study  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX3DSlqR
    ** As of last close, SURF stock down about 2% YTD 

 (Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru)
 ((Vishwadha.Chander@thomsonreuters.com;))