NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 5, 2017 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on small-cap and micro-cap public companies, today announced it has initiated coverage on ITUS Corporation (NASDAQ: ITUS) with a 12-month price target of US $5.00.
The report is available here: ITUS Initiation Report.
We initiate coverage of ITUS Corporation (Nasdaq CM: ITUS) with a price target of $5.00. Based in San Jose, CA, ITUS is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic products that leverage the immune system to address cancer. ITUS's lead product is Cchek™, a diagnostic designed to determine a patient's cancer status from a simple blood sample without a biopsy. ITUS has announced encouraging data suggesting that Cchek™ has significant potential as a non-invasive diagnostic that can be used for early cancer detection as well as a for confirmatory, monitoring or pre-biopsy testing. The company has also initiated a new program investigating the use of CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells) technology for ovarian cancer, which could serve as an attractive catalyst, as pre-clinical data shows efficacy. We view ITUS as an intriguing speculative company in the biotechnology sector with several potential catalysts ahead as it compiles efficacy data to advance Cchek™ and CAR-T therapy towards applying for FDA clearance.
Highlights from this report include:
Cchek™ Program Targets Large Opportunity as Cancer Diagnostic
ITUS Corporation's lead product candidate is Cchek™, a non-invasive blood test intended for the early detection of cancer. Cchek™ seeks to confirm the presence of cancer from the blood sample by isolating and profiling Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs), a group of immune cells whose number and frequency have been shown to correlate to the presence of a tumor. The company then leverages a proprietary cognitive computing platform to analyze the patient's immune response through dynamic changes witnessed in MDSCs. If Cchek™ is cleared by the FDA, ITUS will initially seek to target a potential patient population of 12mn per year for confirmatory pre-biopsy testing. The company aims to expand applications of Cchek™ to include patient monitoring, recurrence testing for patients in remission, and possibly as an early cancer screening tool for asymptomatic patients as part of a regular checkup, which has potential to significantly expand its market opportunity.
Encouraging Pre-Clinical Data, Impressive Research Collaborators
Working with impressive research collaborators including MD Anderson, the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, and The Wistar Institute, ITUS has shown that Cchek™ is capable of identifying 15 cancer types, with a goal of being able to identify all forms of cancer. To date, ITUS has reported encouraging pre-clinical data for Cchek™ on studies of approximately 350 cancer patients and 150 healthy donors. In its first two mixed cancer cohorts, Cchek™ demonstrated 90%+ levels for sensitivity and specificity. We expect ITUS to build its patient data for over the next year, which management believes could position the company to apply for clearance for its first indication, likely breast or prostate cancer, in 2H18/ 1H19.
ITUS Offers Intriguing Risk / Reward; Initiating with Price Target of $5.00
We initiate coverage of ITUS with a price target of $5.00. We view ITUS as an intriguing speculative company in the biotechnology sector targeting the large opportunity for non-invasive cancer testing. The company has several potential catalysts ahead as it recently completed a $3.6mn financing and continues to compile efficacy data in order to advance Cchek™ toward an application for FDA clearance.
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About ITUS Corporation
ITUS, a cancer-focused biotechnology company, is harnessing the body's immune system in the fight against cancer. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Anixa Diagnostics Corporation, is developing the CchekTM platform, a series of non-invasive blood tests for the early detection of solid tumor based cancers, which is based on the body's immunological response to the presence of a malignancy. Its majority-owned subsidiary, Certainty Therapeutics, Inc., is developing CAR-T based immuno-therapy drugs which genetically engineer a patient's own immune cells to fight cancer. ITUS also continually examines emerging technologies in complementary or related fields for further development and commercialization. Additional information is available at www.ITUScorp.com.
About SeeThruEquity
Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high quality research on underfollowed smallcap and microcap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative business model for equity research that is not paid for and is unbiased. SeeThruEquity is the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion.
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