Why is the Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price falling lower today?

The Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) share price is heading lower today after the company announced its quarterly report for Q1 FY21. At the time of writing, the Immutep share price has dropped 3.85% to 25 cents.

About Immutep

Immutep is a biotechnology company that develops new immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company boasts partnerships with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies including Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK).

Immutep’s main product is eftilagimod alpha (IMP321), a soluble fusion protein, which is in clinical development for the treatment of cancer. The company has two other clinical candidates (IMP701 and IMP731) that are fully licensed to major pharmaceutical partners, and a fourth candidate (IMP761) which is in pre-clinical development.

The Immutep share price has traded relatively flat during 2020, losing a little under 4% despite the effects of the global pandemic.

Quarterly update

The Immutep share price is today edging lower as the company announced its quarterly activities report. During the September quarter, a number of the company’s important clinical trials were underway.

In regards to Immutep’s Tacti-002 phase II clinical trial, the company reported encouraging results. These results showed three patients had complete responses with a further five seeing partial responses.

The Tacti-002 trial is evaluating the efficacy of the combination of IMP321 with Merck & Co’s Keytruda drug in up to 109 patients with cancer.

The company’s other main clinical trial, Inisight-004, is also progressing well. This has shown 41.7% of patients demonstrating a response to the combination therapy of IMP321 and Avelumab (a human antibody). This represents a 33% improvement on the previous interim data.

Finally, the biotech’s preclinical drug, IMP761, is also showing good signs of progress according to the report.

Financials

The company reported very weak cash receipts from customers which could explain today’s falling Immutep share price. Cash receipts from customers for the quarter were $23,000, compared to $128,000 last term.

Moreover, total net cash outflows were $3.34 million for the quarter. Whereby total net cash inflows from operating activities during Q4 FY2020 were much higher, coming in at $0.12 million.

Immutep’s cash balance was $22.7 million as of 30 September, with the company stating that its cash runway extends to the end of calendar year 2021, beyond several significant data read-outs.

Immutep share price summary

The Immutep share price reached a pre-COVID high of 50 cents in February this year before plummeting as low as 10 cents in March. Despite making a partial recovery since its March lows, the Immutep share price is still trading 50% below its 52-week high. 

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Motley Fool contributor Daniel Ewing has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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