Pharmacyte Biotech Inc (OTCMKTS:PMCB) Is Going After The Gold Standard Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Pharmacyte Biotech Inc (OTCMKTS:PMCB) is a company that we keep coming back to and it's been a real winner over the last few months. Back at the end of November, the company traded for less than $0.05 a share. At the end of last year, Pharmacyte stock traded up to $0.15 a share, and has since corrected to current levels somewhere in the region of $0.11. Even with the recent correction taken into consideration, that's still a 120% increase during the period in question.Last week, the company announced its intentions to initiate a clinical trial in pancreatic cancer, and we believe this trial could be a real value driver going forward. As yet, markets have not responded to the news, presenting an opportunity to pick up a discounted exposure in anticipation of said response.We have covered this one on a number of occasions in the past, so we won't go into too much detail on operations here. By way of a brief introduction, however, the company has developed a technology that allows for a targeted and potent delivery of a chemotherapy agent (variable, depending upon the type of cancer being treated). The technology, called Cell in a Box, removes the necessity for liver pass activation of the chemo agent, and this – in turn – allows for efficacy at a much lower dose. To put this another way, traditional chemotherapy requires the active agents to pass through the liver in order to become active (there are certain enzymes in the liver that activate the key compound). With this system, however, the active compound is injected (encased within the technology) directly at the tumor site, and then activated post delivery. Targeted treatment translates to lower dose necessity, which in turn translates to lower toxicity. Reduced toxicity removes the side effects commonly associated with cancer treatment.Anyway, the latest announcement relates to an application of this technology targeted at the above-mentioned pancreatic cancer. For the last 10 years, the gold standard in pancreatic cancer treatment has been a drug called gemcitabine, which was developed, and is now marketed by, Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY). It is the gold standard, but it's not that great. Pancreatic cancer remains the deadliest cancer in the US (in terms of one and five year survival rates) and – despite this – most new treatments focus on acting as an adjuvant to Eli's gemcitabine, as opposed to an improvement/replacement.Pharmacyte is trying to change this with its therapy.The drug will go head-to-head with gemcitabine, with one arm of the trial treated using Pharmacyte's therapy, and the other treated with gemcitabine (double blinded). We see this study as providing numerous near-term catalysts for the company going forward, with the first being the announcement of the phase 1 getting underway. The company has completed a pre-IND meeting with the FDA, and the assumption is that it has a trial protocol in hand with which it can its assets carry forward into clinical development. According to recent communication, management expects to hold a conference call on or around February 8, at which point we expect some further insight into exactly how the trial is structured, and when we can expect data to hit press.As ever, at this end of the biotechnology market, cash on hand is a bit of concern. The company reported $1.55 million cash and cash equivalents at last count (October 31, 2016) and as such, will likely have to raise equity before mid to late 2017. This raise will probably be dilutive, and while it doesn't negate the upside potential of the trial's initiation, it should be taken into consideration ahead of an exposure.We're watching closely for any suggestion as to when this trial will get underway, and we'll sit in on the February conference call to solidify our expectations and support our bias.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on PMCB, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in PMCB and have not been compensated for this article.