Immutep (ASX: IMM) has massive potential!

Immutep (ASX: IMM) develops immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. It has several product candidates at different phases of clinical trials. But its lead product candidate is Eftilagimod Alpha (Efti), a recombinant protein that is in phase 2b clinical trial as a chemoimmunotherapy combination for metastatic breast cancer.  

To learn more about Immutep and its product candidates and clinical trials, Stocks Down Under subscribers can read our article about the company here. 

Defensive and secular growth stocks are back in favour 

The result of our RSC (Relative Strength Comparison) exploration system shows us that secular growth stocks, including biotech stocks, are increasingly receiving investors’ attention.  

The increasing recession fears are leading investors towards defensive and secular growth stocks, and are keeping them away from cyclical and consumer discretionary stocks. 

Defensive stocks are those that normally do well in a recession as demand for their products and services is likely to persist regardless of the state of the economy, such as stocks in the healthcare and utilities sectors. 

Secular growth stocks are those that largely grow by improvements in their underlying technology, regardless of the state of the economy. It can even be the case that these types of stocks can benefit from a recession as their valuations increase by falling interest rates during the final stage of an economic contraction. 

Immutep, Daily Chart in Semi-log Scale (Source: Metastock)

Immutep is a secular growth stock 

Immutep as a biotech stock is a secular growth stock, which justifies the extra attention it’s receiving in the current market.  

IMM’s share price has recently broken its one-year downtrend as well as the resistance level of 33 cents (the green line on the chart). From a technical analysis point of view, this strength in the share price indicates that bulls are back in control and more advances in Immutep’s share price are likely. 

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Success with LAG-3 is helping Immutep 

All of Immutep’s product candidates, including Efti, are based around a protein called LAG-3 (Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3), which controls signalling between two specific immune cells to regulate the body’s immune response. 

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is a US-based biopharmaceutical company with a market capitalisation north of US$168bn that also works on LAG-3-based products. The company released successful trial results with its LAG-3-based product on the immune response in patients with untreated melanoma in March 2021, which boosted investors’ confidence in the success of Immutep’s LAG-3 therapies. 

Immutep chairman’s address on 23 November mentioned BMS’ early sales of its LAG-3-based product, Opdualag, to reach US$84m in the three months to September 2022. This sales number is surely getting investors excited about IMM’s potential as a LAG-3 pure-play company with a market capitalisation of a mere 320 million Australian dollars.  

How to play Immutep’s stock? 

Immutep’s share price has broken its one-year downtrend and made a higher high by breaking the resistance level of 33 cents, which is a technical sign that an uptrend has potentially started.  

Therefore, we think prices near the broken resistance of 33 cents are attractive. The first resistance on the way up is at 43 cents, followed by 50, 60 and 70 cents (the blue lines on the chart). 

We recommend using a stop loss at 33 cents. A confirmed break below the broken resistance level of 33 cents would be an indication that upward momentum is gone and it would substantially decrease the chances of further share price appreciations in the short term. 

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Frequently Asked Questions about Immutep

• Is Immutep an Australian company?

  Yes, Immutep is based in Sydney, NSW, and is dual listed on ASX and NASDAQ. 

• Does Immutep pay a dividend?

  No, the company needs to raise capital to fund its clinical trials. 

• Is Immutep a BUY right now?

  We think prices near 33 cents are attractive with a stop loss at 33 cents.