IST raising $5m for cancer trial, ASX listing

Sydney-based Immune System Therapeutics (IST) will raise up to $5 million to help fund a global blood cancer trial and its upcoming ASX listing.

IST, an antibody technology company, will seek to place up to 100 million new shares at 0.05 cents per share.

The funds will be used to support a multinational phase IIb trial of cancer treatment candidate IST-1097 in multiple myeloma. This trial is due to commence next month. It will be conducted at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, as well as at up to nine other trial sites in the UK, Europe and the US.

IST-1097 binds to a protein found only on the surface of multiple myeloma cancer cells and not normal cells. It then directs a patient’s immune system to target and destroy the cancerous cells.

The latest trial will examine the efficacy of IST-1097 in combination with standard multiple myeloma therapies lenalidomide and dexamethasone, based on preclinical research suggesting that the former enhances the cell-killing activity of the IST antibody.

IST is meanwhile preparing for an ASX listing. The company is working with Peloton Capital on the listing, and expects to conduct the process in the third quarter.