Immutep Receives A$3.4 million R&D Tax Incentive from French Government.

Immutep has today announced that it has received a R&D tax refund of €2,126,617 (~ A$3,430,952) from the French Governement as part of their Crédit d’Impôt Recherche scheme (CIR). This is a French government incentive by which French companies conducting research and development activities in Europe can be reimbursed 30% of their eligible expenditure.

In April 2021, the Company also received a A$1,155,055 cash rebate from the Australian Government as part of the Australian Federal Government’s R&D tax incentive program. 

The company has said that the funds will be used to support the ongoing and planned global clinical development of eftilagimod alpha and the preclinical development of IMP761.

Good news obviously, however the company is still in the early stages of a lot of its research and it is yet to be seen if their products will have the desired effects that they are hoping for. A lot of players in this space but I do like the way that Immutep runs as a business and I think they have a possibly marketable product on their hands. Time will certainly tell and as we all know there are more biotech firms that fail rather than succeed.

DISC: Currently not held but watching.

Immutep Reports Dosing of First Patient For Triple Combination Trial 

Immutep Limited announced today that the first patient has been enrolled and safely dosed in the INSIGHT-003 study. 

What is INSIGHT-003 

INSIGHT-003 is being conducted by the Institute of Clinical Cancer Research IKF in Frankfurt, and will be the first time a triple combination therapy is administered, consisting of efti, anti-PD-1, and chemo. Essentially what the researchers are trying to do is target the tumours using three different therapies at the same time to hopefully compound the effects.  

Immutep with recruit up to 20 patients with solid tumours to participate in the trial and first results are expected in calendar year 2022. The patients will receive 30 mg subcutaneous doses of efti every two weeks in conjunction with standard of care chemotherapy plus anti-PD-1 therapy. The trial will assess the safety, tolerability and initial efficacy of the combination. 

CSO and CMO Dr. Frédéric Triebel said, "We are evaluating how efti might boost an approved chemotherapy and anti-PD-1 combination therapy, looking at safety and initial activity. Dosing the first patient in this trial is a significant milestone and it sets the wheels in motion for reporting first data which are currently anticipated in 2022.”  

About Immutep 

Immutep is a global biotechnology company listed on both the ASX (IMM) and the NASDAQ (IMMP). They are a leader in the development of LAG-3 related immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. It has a current market cap of around $420 million. It works with some of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world including Pfizer and GSK. 

I will put some more information up in the coming weeks regarding the actual science behind what they are trying to do so others can understand some of the risks of these sort of studies in a business sense. 

DISC: do not currently hold but looking.