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Pyxis (PYXS) Up on Advancing Cancer Therapy Candidates

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Pyxis Oncology (PYXS - Free Report) announced that it has dosed the first patient in a phase I study of PYX-106, a fully human immunotherapy antibody candidate. The company's shares rose 4.15% on the pipeline progress. The same has surged 143.3% in the year so far against the industry’s 4.2% decline.

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PYX-106 aims to inhibit the activity of Siglec-15, an immune suppressor present in various tumor types.

The early-stage study named PYX-106-101 is an open-label, multicenter study that evaluates the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary efficacy of PYX-106 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The candidate received investigational drug clearance from the FDA in December 2022. 

Additionally, Pyxis initiated a second dose level study in an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) product candidate — PYX-201. The candidate is being evaluated in a phase I study, referred to as PYX-201-101, for patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors that express extradomain-B (EDB) of fibronectin, a component of the extracellular matrix found in tumors.

PYXS’ proprietary ADC technology was licensed from Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) in December 2020. The agreement with PFE became effective in March 2021, for which PYXS paid a combined licensing fee of $25 million.

Pyxis expects to obtain preliminary data from both the ongoing phase I studies, including biomarker results and early indications of clinical activity, in late 2023 or early 2024.

Both PYX-106 and PYX-201 are promising therapeutic candidates with unique mechanisms of action. In preclinical studies, PYX-106 demonstrated broad immune activation and strong binding affinity.

PYX-201, on the other hand, adopted an ADC approach to specifically target the EDB of fibronectin, which is overexpressed in many solid tumors.

Pyxis recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire Apexigen  for approximately $16 million. APGN specializes in developing innovative antibody therapies for oncology with the use of its proprietary antibody platform, APXiMAB.

Its lead product candidate, sotigalimab, is in a phase II study, and being developed for various cancer indications. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2023. 

Zacks Rank and Stock to Consider 

 Currently, Pyxis carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the same sector is ADMA Biologics (ADMA - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

Loss per estimates for ADMA have narrowed from 19 cents to 9 cents for 2023 in the past 60 days. Shares of ADMA have risen 4.1% in the year-to-date period.

ADMA Biologics’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and met the mark in one, delivering an average surprise of 19.3%.


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