Moleculin Biotech soars as it makes “major breakthrough” with its anti-cancer candidate

Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) surged on Thursday after the microcap pharma said it had made a “major breakthrough” in the fight against cancer.

The Houston-based firm has been working on developing a new cancer treatment that selectively kills highly resistant tumours and, based on preclinical testing, thinks it might have made some serious headway with one of its candidates, called WP1732.

“We believe our unique approach to develop immuno-stimulating STAT3 inhibitors just took a major step forward,” said chief executive and chairman Walter Klemp.

“Our WP1066 portfolio has already resulted in multiple collaborations with some of the most prestigious cancer centres in the world and now this new discovery [WP1732] could dramatically improve our ability to treat a broader range of the most difficult cancers, and especially pancreatic cancer.”

Moleculin shares jumped 53% to US$2.78 on Thursday, making the stock the biggest percentage gainer on the major US exchanges.

The volume of shares traded hit almost 21mln, compared with a full-day average of around 215,000.

Story by ProactiveInvestors