Earlier this month, we highlighted Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) as a potential biotechnology exposure, and asked ourselves the question, is there any value in a holding? Our conclusion was as follows: there is value there, so long as the company can get a pivotal trial in its lead oncology asset kicked off, and in turn, start pushing out positive news relating to both the progress of the trial, and the impact of its asset on the leukemia indication in question.As it turns out, the company has managed to get this flow running a little earlier than expected, with its latest release. On January 23, 2017, Immune Pharmaceuticals put out a press release detailing a research partnership between it and a French technology transfer office, which will see the former combine with a number well-known cancer research entities in the development of a brand-new asset.Here is our take on the deal, and a look at how it impacts the bias we presented earlier this month.For those not familiar with the concept of technology transfer offices in Europe, they are pretty much as they sound – they act as a sort of go between that mediates the transfer of intellectual property between university research facilities and the commercial world. In this instance, the intellectual property being transferred relates to mono- and bispecific antibodies targeting components of the tumor microenvironment and angiogenic factors. That's a pretty vague description, but when taken in consideration with Immune's current technological portfolio, it makes a little bit more sense. Basically, the company is trying to develop a bispecific drug; one that targets cancer from two different angles. The primary targets of these two (somewhat) distinct angles are what's called the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and certain cytokines of the IL-8 family. The former is related to tumor growth, and cancer cell replication. The latter is involved in what's called the autocrine proliferation loop, and plays a role both in proliferation of cancer cells and – in turn – the metastasis of the cancer in question.Our take on this is that the development should feed into the current portfolio, and will likely serve to reinforce the company's lead oncology asset, the Ceplene drug we addressed in our previous coverage. Ceplene also targets cytokines (although in this instance, they are of the IL-2 family, not the IL-8 like the new partnership is targeting) and this is where the complimentary elements of the early stage asset and the late stage Ceplene come into play.So what is next? Well, last time we covered this one, we noted that it is all about maintaining a positive news stream. There are plenty of potential catalysts listed throughout 2017, and this latest announcement only serves to bolster this number. If the company can get its lead assets into pivotal trials over the coming couple of quarters, and start to update markets as to the enrollment progress (and, in turn, any interim clinical progress), then we should see Immune really start to move.Again, as we noted last time, there are some red flags, and these are rooted primarily in the company's cash position. However, a recent reverse split should improve its ability to draw capital towards its balance sheet, and – while chances are any such drawing will be diluted – if the capital can be put to good use (i.e. used to further clinical development) then PPS growth should mitigate any dilutive impact on an early investor's holdings.Bottom line here is that this latest announcement isn't a game changer for the company, but it is conducive to additional value, and could be the first in a long line of positive, value adding updates between now and mid year.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on IMNP, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in IMNP and have not been compensated for this article.
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