Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDRA) shares last traded at $1.22 in after-hours trading, rising 5.17%. IDRA’s stock closed at $1.16 the last session, declining -5.69% or $0.07. The stock fluctuated between $1.16 and $1.23 throughout the day. Shares were exchanged for 1.12 million, less than their 50-day volume of 1.48 million or their year-to-date volume of 2.15 million.

Its stock has gone down -11.45% over the past one week and declined -37.97% in the past year. A total of -75.05% has been lost over the last six months and a total of -41.41% over the last three months. As the IDRA stock rose in absence of current news, we can then point to recent developments to provide a more thorough understanding of IDRA.

Developments recently occurred at IDRA?

In its lead development program, Idera works with early immunotherapy researchers and leverages its experience creating proprietary immunology platforms to prime the immune system to fight cancer more effectively with the goal of ultimately treating more people with immunotherapy. As part of its continued focus on oncology and rare disease drug candidates, Idera also continues to acquire, develop, and commercialize drugs for populations with small, well-defined patient populations with unmet needs.

Recently, Idera announced that it would no longer be pursuing ILLUMINATE-301 and also provided a corporate update.

• The purpose of that study was to compare tilsotolimod with ipilimumab versus ipilimumab alone in patients with anti-PD-1 refractory advanced melanoma, and to determine its overall survival (OS).
• In March 2021, IDRA reported the trial failed to meet its primary endpoint of objective response rate (ORR).
• IDRA will publish the complete results from study in the near future.
• IDRA has reviewed the full data set for ILLUMINATE-301 and consulted with our Study Steering Committee and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) regarding the next steps for the trial since receiving the disappointing ORR results.
• Vincent Milano, chief executive officer of Idera, stated, We are of the opinion that the combined use of both tilsotolimod and ipilimumab is unlikely to achieve a statistically significant improvement in OS over either drug alone. All the patients and investigators deserve my personal thanks for their efforts.
• Milano said that IDRA’s ILLUMINATE-206 is still enrolling and treating patients.
• In this Phase 2 study, IDRA’s tilsotolimod is paired with BMS’ nivolumab and ipilimumab.
• In this trial, AbbVie will receive a study drug that will support their study for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and for patients with Microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer.
• IDRA is actively identifying and securing new assets for development or commercialization, Mr. Milano stated, as the company looks to the future.
• The IDRA team has a proven track record and is passionate about helping patients, which can be beneficial in developing promising compounds.

Management changes:

IDRA also announced that Elizabeth Tarka, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for the Company since July 2019, will depart the Company on May 28, 2021. Tarka will continue to serve as a consultant to Idera (IDRA). According to Mr. Milano, Liz helped IDRA deliver ILLUMINATE-301 and has contributed to many other initiatives over the past two years.