Shares in Immutep surged more than 16 per cent after the cancer drug developer joined with pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co to trial a combination of drugs to treat lung, head and neck, and ovarian cancers.
The clinical trial will evaluate the combination of Immutep's immunotherapy product, eftilagimod alpha, with Merck's immune system therapy Keytruda in several different solid tumours.
Announcement of the agreement sent Immutep shares 16.7 per cent higher to 2.8 cents on Monday.
"This clinical trial will evaluate a novel combination of two complementary immuno-oncology treatments in three cancer indications simultaneously, which could lead to more rapid drug development subject to successful outcomes," Immutep chief executive Marc Voigt said in a statement.
The phase II trial of up to 120 patients is expected to start in the second half of 2018 in medical centres in Europe and the US.
Immutep also said on Monday that it has raised $6.85 million in a placement of about 326 million new shares to institutional investors in the US and Australia, and to former Immutep chairman Lucy Turnbull, at 2.1 cents per share..
