The Invion Ltd (ASX: IVX) share price is on the move during late afternoon trade. This comes after the clinical-stage drug development company announced the pilot study results from its latest Proof-of-Concept (PoC) studies.

At the time of writing, Invion shares are up an astonishing 123.08% to a multi-year high of 2.9 cents apiece.

What were the results?

In its release, Invion highlighted the effectiveness of INV043 against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

INV043 is the next-generation photodynamic therapy (PDT) that is being developed alongside its research partner, Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Employing Photosoft technology, PDT works by using photosensitisers and light to kill cancer cells and promote an anti-cancer immune response.

TNBC is an aggressive and metastatic tumour type resistant to most chemotherapies. According to the American Cancer Society, the overall 5-year survival rate for TNBC is around 77%.

Invion revealed that test results showed complete tumour regression in mice treated with INV043 after being implanted with TNBC. The mice were again re-implanted with the disease at a new site, however, the immune system triggered a response eradicating the tumour.

The company noted that the data suggests that INV043 provides strong anti-cancer activity and can induce an anti-tumour immune response.

Additional POC tests are set to be carried out, looking at extended primary and metastatic disease models. Each study will explore potential synergies with other cancer therapies.

Invion chair and CEO Thian Chew commented:

These results demonstrate the potential of Photosoft technology and its clinical relevance. Hudson Institute will continue to undertake further PoC studies using our novel treatment. The early success we have achieved sets the foundation for Invion to progress INV043 towards clinical trials.

We are pursuing multiple pathways to develop the technology to treat a range of cancers and other insidious diseases.

About the Invion share price

Over the last 12 months, Invion shares have surged by more than 160%, with year-to-date further accelerating by 190%.

Based on today's price, Invion presides a market capitalisation of roughly $170.08 million and has approximately 5.86 billion shares outstanding.

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One of the best performers on the Australian share market on Wednesday has been the Invion Ltd (ASX: IVX) share price.

The clinical-stage drug development company's shares rocketed an incredible 225% higher at one stage today. They have since given back a good portion of these gains but are still up 125% at the time of writing.

Why is the Invion share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been fighting to get hold of the company's shares on Wednesday following the release of results from a pre-clinical study undertaken by Hudson Institute of Medical Research.

This study relates to the first batch of its Australian-made Photosoft compound on mice with ovarian cancer.

Photosoft technology is an improved next generation Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). PDT uses non-toxic photosensitisers and visible light in combination with oxygen to produce cytotoxic-reactive oxygen that kills malignant cells, shuts down tumours, and stimulates the immune system.

It is a potential alternative to surgery and, in contrast to radiotherapy and chemotherapy which are mostly immunosuppressive, PDT causes acute inflammation, expression of heat-shock proteins, and invasion and infiltration of a tumour by leukocytes.

The results.

According to today's update, researchers at Hudson Institute analysed both immediate and medium-term effects on tumours and made positive observations.

This includes Photosoft causing the immediate and specific death of tumour tissue, with no apparent adverse effects in the surrounding healthy tissues. Furthermore, researchers found the size of the tumours in animals treated with Photosoft reduced to less than half of their original size over a three-week period.

Another important finding was that researchers observed that tumour destruction was accompanied by an influx of immune cells. This indicates an anti-tumour immune response. This is important because current cancer treatments can kill healthy cells and suppress the body's natural ability to fight infections.

Dr Andrew Stephens, head of the Ovarian Cancer Research at Hudson Institute, spoke very positively about the results.

He said: "These results suggest that Photosoft Technology may be an effective method to achieve targeted tumour destruction. Over the coming months we will be working with the Photosoft Technology to characterise how tumour destruction and immune response are linked, paving the way for clinical trials using Photosoft Technology as a cancer therapy."

Given how badly new treatment options are needed, I can't say I'm surprised that investors are getting excited over the results. But it is worth remembering that there is still a lot of work to be done before Photosoft potentially gets to that stage. 

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In morning trade the clinical-stage drug development company's shares zoomed an incredible 86% higher to 2.6 cents.

Its shares have since given back a good portion of these gains, but are still trading 36% higher in early afternoon trade.

Why did the Invion share price rocket higher?

This morning the company announced that its research partner, the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, has completed the initial in vivo experiments in animal models to examine the uptake, localisation, and clearance from tumour tissue of Invion's photosensitiser, IVX-P02.

According to the release, a highlight of the in vivo testing was the demonstrated uptake of IVX-P02 in circulating tumour cells (CTCs). CTCs are cells that have shed from a primary tumour and are carried around the body in the blood.

This finding could be significant as it suggests that IVX-P02 may have an application in the treatment of metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread from the primary site of origin to different areas of the body).

Dr Andrew Stephens, the group head of the Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers Research Group at the Hudson Institute, appeared to be encouraged by the findings.

He said: "This is the first time that photosensitiser accumulation in CTCs has been demonstrated in vivo. The data suggests the potential application of IVX-P02 for haematological cancers in addition to solid tumours, as well as in therapies designed to prevent recurrence."

Before adding: "This new development is in its early stages, but it could lead to the development of a less harsh treatment for patients with metastatic cancer. The important thing is that IVX-P02 is taken up selectively by cancer cells and is not retained in any of the other organs, and in the blood it is taken up selectively by circulating cancer cells and not by red blood cells."

Another bonus was that the in vivo data also showed that injected IVX-P02 cleared rapidly from circulation, with around 90% of it gone within 30 minutes and then largely undetectable after two hours. Increasing doses up to 10mg/kg had no influence on the clearance rate.

Furthermore, there was no toxicity noted for any dose of IVX-P02 tested, nor was there any evidence of retention in any other organs, including the liver, kidney, spleen, ovaries, fallopian tube, lung, heart, brain or intestine.

Invion expects to start human trials of IVX-P02 for the treatment of skin cancer in the next quarter.

Elsewhere in the industry today, the Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX) share price has edged higher after providing an update on its prostate imaging program and the Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR) share price has given back its early gains and dropped lower after releasing an iPPS update.

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So What: On Monday, Invion provided an update to the market regarding its INV102 (nadalol) compound which is a potential new inhaled therapy to treat chronic airway diseases such as asthma. It said that it had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and could thus proceed with further development of the treatment.

While that is good news for the company and its shareholders, Invion has also sought to raise nearly $5 million in cash whilst also concluding an existing short-term funding facility provided by Lind Partners LLC, which it had provided since November 2014. The company is raising $895 thousand through a private placement of 2.5 cents per share which is to be supplemented with a $4.1 million capital raising to local shareholders.

This was being structured as a two-for-seven rights issue, also at 2.5 cents per share. That means that for every seven shares you own, you could have topped up with an additional two. The 2.5 cent price tag represented a 36% discount to its 3.9 cent closing price before having entered its trading halt.

Now What: Of course, Invion isn't the first life-science company to have raised capital recently with Admedus Ltd (ASX: AHZ) and Nanosonics Ltd. (ASX: NAN) both having tapped investors for more cash.

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