Atara Reports Initial Data For Multiple Sclerosis Candidate

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) announced initial ATA188 phase I safety results for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) at the 5^th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Oslo, Norway. The primary objective of the ongoing ATA188 phase I, dose-escalating clinical study is to evaluate safety and tolerability for patients with progressive MS.

ATA188 is a T-cell immunotherapy targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens, believed to be important for the potential treatment of MS. MS is a chronic autoimmune, inflammatory disease that affects axons in the central nervous system (CNS).

Shares of the company have plunged 42.2% year to date against the industry’s growth of 5.7%.

Initial safety results, as of Apr 8, 2019, showed that the first three ATA188 dose cohorts were well tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities and no ≥3 grade treatment-related, treatment-emergent adverse events. The key secondary endpoints of the phase I study include measures of clinical improvement, such as expanded disability status scale (EDSS), MRI imaging and other clinical activity measures. The study is ongoing and aims to identify a recommended phase II dose (RP2D). Further, a phase Ib extension period for this study, using the RP2D, is now planned following the completion of the open-label, dose-escalation period.

MS is a crowded market, with many companies already having drugs in their portfolio approved for this indication. Biogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) holds a strong position in this market with a wide range of products, including Avonex, Tysabri, Tecfidera and Plegridy. In March, swiss pharma giant Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) received FDA approval for its pipeline candidate Mayzent (siponimod), a next generation, selective sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulator, for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of MS. Also Celgene’s (NASDAQ:CELG) ozanimod, being developed for the treatment of people with relapsing forms of MS, is under review in the United States and Europe.

Zacks Rank

Atara currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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