Monopar Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MNPR) shares pick up ground Wednesday. The Wilmette, Illinois-based company, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer patients, today announced that its Phase 1 dosimetry clinical trial for its novel radiopharmaceutical imaging agent MNPR-101-Zr (MNPR-101 conjugated to zirconium-89) is now active and recruiting patients with advanced cancers. The antibody MNPR-101 targets the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), which is expressed on numerous tumor types including pancreatic, breast, colorectal, and bladder.
The study is now open for enrollment at the Melbourne Theranostic Innovation Centre (MTIC) in Australia, and is being led by Professor Rodney Hicks, an internationally recognized physician and pioneer in the radiopharma space. MTIC will use one of the world's most sensitive, state-of-the-art, clinical total-body PET/CT (positron emission tomography–computed tomography) scanners, the Siemens Biograph Vision Quadra, to image the tumor targeting ability of MNPR-101-Zr in advanced cancer patients.
The Phase 1 dosimetry trial is evaluating the safety and dosimetry of MNPR-101-Zr in up to 12 patients with advanced cancer. Preclinical data to date have shown highly specific and durable tumor uptake of MNPR-101-Zr in human cancer xenograft models. Moreover, Monopar recently shared positive preclinical efficacy data showing potent and durable anti-tumor activity of MNPR-101 bound to therapeutic radioisotopes.
MNPR shares nicked up two cents, or 3.3%, to 61 cents.
