November 9, 2022

Vator Securities advises WntResearch on 40 MSEK Rights Issue

About WntResearch

WntResearch is a biotech company in oncology that develops the drug candidate Foxy-5 to prevent the development of cancer metastases. Foxy-5 is currently in the ongoing Phase 2 clinical study NeoFox. The study includes patients with colon cancer in stage II/III, who at diagnosis, according to established assessment criteria, are considered to have a high risk of recurrence after the primary tumor has been surgically removed. Foxy-5 is a peptide that mimics the function of the protein WNT5A which is found naturally in the body, a protein that prevents the spread of cancerous cells in the body.

Press release

The case 

  • Metastasis is considered to be the cause of a large part of all cancer-related deaths associated with solid tumors. Although current cancer treatment has become more effective, there are no effective ways to prevent the onset of metastases that cause about 90 percent of all cancer-related deaths. Foxy-5 has a unique mechanism of action and has shown a good safety profile with few side effects in two Phase 1 clinical trials. 

  • The safety and efficacy of Foxy-5 are now being evaluated in the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial NeoFox, in patients with stage II/III colon cancer. In an ad hoc analysis in August 2022 of approximately 100 patients, a reduced tumor burden, so-called down-staging (in primary tumor and regional lymph nodes), was observed in the group that received Foxy-5. Based on these observations, the Company considered that the NeoFox study should not be completed as originally planned, since the study was not intended to study these observations.

  • In October 2022, the Company announced that following analyses of additional pathology reports, the previous observations have been confirmed and expanded in an updated analysis. An update of the NeoFox study plan has been initiated.  

  • The revised study plan creates an opportunity to validate the observations and confirm the preclinical data that constitutes the basis for Foxy-5 and its potential to prevent tumor spread in patients in a shorter time compared to the original study plan for NeoFox.  


WntResearch's website