Source: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals.
Peregrine's lead experimental drug is bavituximab, a phosphatidylserine-, or PS-, targeting antibody that binds to PS receptors. These receptors are found on the inside of healthy cells and act as an immunosuppressant protecting the cell from destruction. Cancer cells, however, have PS receptors on the outside of the cell, masking them from the immune system. Bavituximab's job is to bind with PS receptors and cancel out cancer cells' ability to hide from your immune system.
Bavituximab is being tested in the phase 3 SUNRISE study as a second-line therapy in non-small cell lung cancer. Top-line data from this study is expected to be released in December 2016. In phase 2 studies, bavituximab demonstrated a statistically significant median overall survival benefit versus the placebo -- 11.7 months versus 7.3 months. However, the results weren't without controversy , as a third-party laboratory caused Peregrine to revise its results from the initially reported median overall survival data of 12.1 months versus 5.6 months for the control group. This phase 3 study should go a long way toward validating Peregrine's lead drug and its development platform.
ImmunoGen
ImmunoGen, on the other hand, is all about the potential of antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, to treat cancer.
In its phase 2 clinical study, nearly half of all patients treated with VGX-3100 saw their disease regress from stage 2 or 3 to stage 1 or no disease, compared to just 31% for the control group. Likewise, there was human papillomavirus clearance and a regression to stage 1 disease or no disease in 40% of VGX-3100 treated patients and only 14% of control group patients.
Source: Inovio Pharmaceuticals.
Inovio is also working with a handful of key partners, including Roche, with the development of its hepatitis B therapeutic, INO-1800. As immunotherapies grow in popularity, Inovio could be a name more and more investors turn to.
Did I leave your favorite promising biotech stock under $10 off the list of stocks to watch? Let me know in the comments section below.
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The article 5 Promising Biotech Stocks Under $10 originally appeared on Fool.com.
Sean Williams owns shares of Exelixis, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen nameTrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool recommends Exelixis and ImmunoGen. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days . We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
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