A cancer-killing vaccine.
Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? A biotech moonshot.
Last month, a landmark trial suggested it may soon be a reality.
The trial led cancer experts to declare the start of a new era, one of custom-made cancer-fighting vaccinations. It also sent share prices of the drugmakers behind it soaring. One company’s investors nearly tripled their money in one day!
Don’t worry if you weren’t among them, though. Because an early-stage startup is taking the inspiration behind this achievement one step further…
And its success may not just triple your money — it could lead you to a 10-bagger.
Why Cancer is So Frustrating
Cancer has always presented a tough challenge. And with good reason.
You see, your immune system excels at fighting enemies it recognizes. And that’s how traditional vaccines work. They teach your immune system what a dangerous virus looks like, so it can recognize and attack it later.
Cancer is different. Because it develops from your own cells, it can hide in plain sight. Instead of appearing as a foreign invader, cancer can look like normal tissue, enabling it to evade your body’s natural defenses.
For decades, this made developing a cancer vaccine difficult. But advances in immunotherapy and drug-delivery are finally helping scientists expose cancer for what it is.
Last month, Moderna (MRNA) and Merck (MRK) offered powerful evidence that cancer vaccines can work. In a late-stage trial, their personalized vaccine helped prevent melanoma from returning or spreading after surgery.
The thing is, this particular treatment must be custom-made for every patient. But imagine a similar treatment designed to work across multiple patients — and several types of cancer.
That’s the idea behind CancerVax.
Turn Cancer into the Enemy
CancerVax is a biotech startup developing a “Universal Cancer Treatment Platform.”
Its approach is simple. Rather than introducing your immune system to an entirely new target, CancerVax wants to exploit something it already knows how to destroy — think measles or chickenpox.
Most people’s immune systems already have powerful defenses against familiar viruses like these.
CancerVax’s technology identifies cancer cells, enters them, and delivers “Smart mRNA.” That mRNA instructs the cancer cells to produce proteins associated with familiar viruses.
In effect, CancerVax aims to disguise cancerous cells. Suddenly, instead of seeing something ambiguous, your immune system sees an old enemy and attacks.
But here’s the thing: CancerVax isn’t developing this technology for just melanoma, breast cancer, or lung cancer…
It’s designing its platform to work across multiple types of cancer. In other words, it’s creating a universal cancer treatment.
Early Results are Encouraging
CancerVax is pre-clinical. But early results are encouraging.
The company completed a study of its targeted lipid nanoparticle, the delivery vehicle designed to carry its treatment through the body.
Many conventional lipid nanoparticles accumulate in the liver, potentially causing toxicity. In CancerVax’s study, many of its nanoparticles avoided accumulating there, suggesting they could circulate throughout the body and potentially reach cancers in different tissues.
In separate studies, CancerVax demonstrated that its Smart mRNA could remain deactivated in healthy cells, disguise liver-cancer cells as virally-infected ones, and activate human antiviral killer T-cells.
Now CancerVax is raising capital to continue fine-tuning its therapy.
Is the company worth an investment? Let’s take a look…
Pros and Cons
There are many “pros” to the company’s story — for example:
Big opportunity. Cancer-immunotherapy is projected to be a $231 billion market by 2031.
Strong team. Chief Scientific Officer George Katibah has developed personalized cancer treatments and first-in-human drug candidates. His advisors include executives and scientists with experience in oncology and pharmaceuticals.
Strong partners. CancerVax is working with established life-sciences companies like Cytiva (owned by $150 billion biotech-giant Danaher (NYSE: DHR)), Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL), and Crown Bioscience.
On the con side, keep in mind that CancerVax is an early-stage enterprise. It’s pre-revenue, and hasn’t begun human clinical trials.
All that being said, the company has considerable potential. In fact, its success could lead you to 10x your money…
The Path to 10x Returns
CancerVax is raising funds at a valuation of about $110 million. Earning a 10x return would mean the company eventually grows to a value of about $1.1 billion.
That’s a significant jump. But consider what happened when Moderna and Merck announced their results.
In a single day, Moderna’s stock soared 177%, adding roughly $45 billion to its market value. Merck’s stock jumped nearly 13%, adding $42 billion to its market cap. That’s nearly $90 billion added to these companies’ values following a single cancer-vaccine breakthrough.
Of course, CancerVax is well behind Moderna and Merck. Its technology must still undergo extensive trials and prove that it’s safe and effective.
But if it can demonstrate that its technology works — and, importantly, that its universal approach could potentially treat multiple types of cancer — a billion-dollar valuation doesn’t seem so crazy…
Especially considering what the market just demonstrated a successful cancer vaccine could be worth.
I’m not suggesting you blindly invest in CancerVax. Investing in any startup requires extensive due diligence.
But if you’re excited about the possibility of a universal cancer vaccine — and about a chance at earning 10x your money — then CancerVax may be worth exploring.
Check out its funding page here »
Happy investing.
Please note: Crowdability has no relationship with any of the startups we write about. We’re an independent provider of education and research on startups and alternative investment.
