Propanc Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PPCB) stock surged on Thursday after compelling preclinical and early translational data for its primary drug candidate, PRP, focused on treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
The biopharmaceutical company reported that PRP significantly inhibited tumor progression and extended overall survival rates in advanced animal models of the disease.
Exceptional Preclinical Tumor Inhibition
In advanced orthotopic and patient-derived xenograft models, administering PRP intravenously three times weekly delivered a mean tumor growth inhibition of over 90% compared to vehicle controls.
The therapy also markedly diminished metastatic spread within the liver and peritoneum. Furthermore, the data highlighted PRP’s ability to remodel the tumor microenvironment.
The treatment reduced cancer-associated fibroblast activity, minimized fibrosis, and suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers.
PRP also heightened the sensitivity of chemo-resistant pancreatic cancer cells to standard therapies, supporting the use of lower chemotherapy doses.
Ultimately, treated animals achieved a median overall survival extension of more than 2.5-fold compared to control subjects.
Distinct Non-Cytotoxic Mechanism
While Revolution Medicines Inc. (NASDAQ:RVMD) recently achieved notable Phase 3 success with its daraxonrasib inhibitor for previously treated metastatic cases, Propanc emphasizes that PRP utilizes a fundamentally distinct mechanism.
In a 500-patient trial, daraxonrasib achieved median overall survival of 13.2 months versus 6.6–6.7 months with chemotherapy (~60% reduction in risk of death), median progression-free survival of 7.2–7.3 months versus 3.5–3.6 months, and objective response rates of approximately 32% versus 11%.
PRP operates as a proprietary, fixed-ratio combination of two pancreatic proenzymes: trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen.
Instead of relying on cytotoxic pathway inhibition, PRP encourages malignant cells to revert toward a normal phenotype.
The therapy reverses epithelial-mesenchymal transition, suppresses metastasis, and directly targets cancer stem cells.
On Wednesday, the FDA approved Rasonque (daraxonrasib) for metastatic PDAC.
Upcoming Clinical Milestones
Propanc continues to advance its GMP manufacturing and pharmacokinetics assay validation.
The company aims to submit a clinical trial application in the coming months, preparing for a Phase 1b study involving 40 to 45 patients with advanced solid tumors.
PPCB Stock Price Activity: Propanc Biopharma shares were up 205.60% at $3.26 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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