SeeThruEquity Initiates Coverage on Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRB) with a Price Target of $7.44

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 18, 2016 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on smallcap and microcap public companies, today announced it has initiated coverage of Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRB).

The report is available here: CLRB Initiation Report.

Based in Madison, WI, Cellectar is an oncology-focused clinical-stage biotechnology company. Cellectar is developing a pipeline of products for the treatment and imaging of cancer, using its proprietary Phospholipid Drug Conjugate (PDC) Delivery Platform. The company’s patented PDC Delivery Platform is a phospholipid ether cancer-targeting vehicle, which promises to enable the delivery of “diverse oncologic payloads” including cytotoxic small molecules directly to cancer cells. Cellectar’s proprietary PDCs offer both highly selective targeting and prolonged retention in a wide range of cancer and cancer stem cells. Importantly, the key differentiating claim that Cellectar makes regarding its PDCs versus other chemotherapeutics is that PDCs’ cancer-targeting capabilities limit a drug’s exposure to healthy cells. This will potentially increase the potency of drugs at lower concentrations and thereby increase the payload therapeutic window.

“Cellectar’s lead candidate using PDC is CLR-131, a Phase 1 candidate for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Cellectar intends for PDC to serve as a platform technology, which can be used to address many cancer types. We would expect the company to pursue a strategy in which it demonstrates the effectiveness of the platform with initial candidates covering a diverse group of payloads. Then we would expect Cellectar to advance new indications though strategic partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies better equipped to fully fund new drug development. In our view, Cellectar is a speculative company in the biotechnology sector with the potential to develop and commercialize an impactful new cancer targeting and payload delivery technology in the large and growing market for oncology therapeutics,” commented Ajay Tandon, CEO of SeeThruEquity. “We initiate coverage on Cellectar with a price target of $7.44.”

Additional highlights from the initiation report are as follows:

Proprietary PDC delivery technology a significant opportunity

At the core of Cellectar’s value proposition is the company’s proprietary Phospholipid Ether Drug Conjugate (PDC) Delivery Platform. The PDC Delivery Platform holds significant promise, having demonstrated selective targeting of cancer and cancer stem cells (CSC) in 70+ in vivo cancer models and on over 80 patients with 10+ types of cancer. With its targeted delivery, PDCs have the potential to improve the therapeutic index of drug payloads – maintaining and potentially enhancing efficacy, while reducing adverse events by minimizing drug delivery to healthy cells. If the company is successful in showing that PDCs can target multiple cancers and be effective with a variety of payloads, it should dramatically expand its potential in the $100+ billion cancer drug market.

Data, collaborative partners add scientific validation

PDCs are proprietary to Cellectar, and are supported by extensive IP. The potential of the technology has been validated not only in preclinical studies but also by the company’s collaborative partnership with Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals – the third largest pharmaceutical company in France. This is an impressive strategic relationship, in our view, as the companies will work together in a research capacity to develop a variety of cancer treatments using Cellectar’s proprietary PDC small molecule cancer-targeting delivery platform and Pierre Fabre’s payloads comprising natural product-derived cytotoxics, so that the companies can jointly develop a library of targeted PDCs with enhanced therapeutic potential.

Additionally, we are encouraged by the progress made by the company on its drug candidate pipeline. Its lead candidate, CLR-131 for multiple myeloma, was awarded an orphan drug designation by the FDA and is in the midst of a Phase 1 trial, with an update from the second cohort expected in 3Q16. Additionally, Cellectar recently reported positive data from its preclinical study of its paclitaxel chemotherapeutic conjugate, CLR-1602, which showed that the tumor uptake of CLR-1602’s paclitaxel payload increased by more than 30x over free paclitaxel half-life relative to free paclitaxel.

Please review important disclosures at www.seethruequity.com.

About Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.

Cellectar Biosciences is developing phospholipid drug conjugates (PDCs) designed to provide cancer targeted delivery of diverse oncologic payloads to a broad range of cancers and cancer stem cells. Cellectar’s PDC Delivery Platform is based on the company’s proprietary phospholipid ether analogs. These novel small-molecules have demonstrated highly selective uptake and retention in a broad range of cancers. Cellectar’s PDC pipeline includes product candidates for cancer therapy and cancer diagnostic imaging. The company’s lead therapeutic PDC, CLR 131, utilizes iodine-131, a cytotoxic radioisotope, as its payload. CLR 131 is currently being evaluated under an orphan drug designated Phase 1 study in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The company is also developing PDCs for targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics such as paclitaxel (CLR 1603-PTX), a preclinical stage product candidate, and plans to expand its PDC chemotherapeutic pipeline through both in-house and collaborative R&D efforts. For additional information please visit www.cellectarbiosciences.com.

About SeeThruEquity

Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high quality research on underfollowed smallcap and microcap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative business model for equity research that is not paid for and is unbiased. SeeThruEquity is the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion.

SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research reports and estimates to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), the leading estimates platform on Wall Street, as well as Capital IQ and FactSet. SeeThruEquity maintains one of the industry’s most extensive databases of opt-in institutional and high net worth investors. The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

For more information, visit www.seethruequity.com.

Contact:

Ajay Tandon
SeeThruEquity
info@seethruequity.com

SOURCE: SeeThruEquity

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