Shares of Immuneering Corporation (NASDAQ:IMRX) rose 7% on Monday following the release of encouraging interim results from a Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating its experimental cancer therapy, atebimetinib, in combination with modified gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel (mGnP), as a first-line treatment for pancreatic cancer.
The clinical-stage biotech reported that, six months into the study, 94% of patients were still alive and 72% had not experienced disease progression. These figures significantly outperform current standard-of-care benchmarks, which typically show 67% overall survival and 44% progression-free survival at the same time point.
Immuneering also highlighted a 39% overall response rate and an 81% disease control rate among trial participants. Many patients experienced sustained and significant tumor shrinkage, and in some cases, individual tumors became undetectable during treatment.
“These early clinical results for atebimetinib (IMM-1-104) suggest it could offer a more durable and effective treatment alternative for patients battling pancreatic cancer, a population that has historically had few effective options,” said Dr. Vincent Chung, Professor at City of Hope and lead investigator of the study.
The combination therapy has so far demonstrated a strong safety profile, with minimal high-grade (Grade 3 or above) side effects, which are typically more frequent with existing chemotherapy regimens.
In response to the promising data, Immuneering has expanded the trial’s enrollment target to roughly 50 participants. The company also announced plans to launch a pivotal clinical trial for atebimetinib with mGnP as a first-line treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2026.