The share price of Sillajen, a biopharmaceutical company, has been surging after the company’s French partner announced their successful global clinical trials of anticancer treatment candidate Pexa-Vec for the first time.

​​​​​​The company’ stocked surged to a record of 45,600 won ($40) on the Korea Stock Exchange Monday, up 23.9 percent, from the previous trading day.

Global phase 1b trial results announced at the European Oncology Society in Madrid confirmed the safety of the combination chemotherapy of Pexa-Vec and Cyclophosphamide.

Ten patients with endometrial cancer participated in the clinical trial to verify the safety of the combination treatment. Researchers administered the patients with 50 milligrams of Cyclophosphamide every other week while giving Pexa-Vec every eight days for 28 days intravenously in high and low doses.

The medication has proved safe in nine patients, with no toxicity detected regardless of the dose. Side effects included fever, nausea, anemia, and fatigue. Two patients with breast cancer and ovarian cancer also had a stable response rate.

The company is conducting seven different clinical trials globally as either a single treatment of Peca-Vec or a combination treatment with other immunosuppressants such as Opdivo (Ingredient: Nivolumab) and Yervoy (Ingredient: Ipilimumab) for solid tumors, breast cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma. As a single treatment, Pexa-Vec is currently in phase 3 clinical trials for patients with end-stage liver cancer. It is to release the result of the clinical trials in the second half of next year.

“This was the first announcement of the global clinical trial result for Pexa-Vec,” a Sillajen _신라젠 official said. “As many clinical trials have proven that anti-cancer virus is more effective in a combination treatment, we will also conduct more clinical trials for Pexa-Vec with various immunosuppressive drugs.”

Pexa-Vec is also expanding its treatment range for liver, kidney and colon cancer through combination therapies, he added.