KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
MiNK Therapeutics ($INKT), a nano-cap clinical-stage biotech firm, shocked the market Friday with a massive surge of over 700%, driven by a landmark cancer remission case published in Nature's Oncogene.
What Happened?
MiNK announced a complete and durable remission in a patient with metastatic, treatment-refractory testicular cancer. The patient had failed multiple prior therapies and received a single infusion of MiNK’s proprietary agenT-797 iNKT cell therapy, combined with Bristol Myers Squibb’s ($BMY) Opdivo (nivolumab).
✅ Outcome: Two years later, no evidence of disease, with the treatment well-tolerated — no cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).
This case marks a critical validation point for agenT-797’s potential in treating solid tumors — a notoriously tough challenge in oncology.
Other Clinical Highlights
At the 2025 AACR Immuno-Oncology meeting, MiNK presented Phase 2 data in second-line gastric cancer:
Signs of immune activation
Tumor infiltration
Early tumor control in checkpoint inhibitor-resistant patients
Several cases of survival beyond 12 months
Another peer-reviewed case in Oncogene described a 42% tumor reduction and 9+ months of progression-free survival in metastatic gastric cancer.
The ongoing Phase 2 trial for gastric cancer is actively enrolling, with more data readouts expected soon.
Price Action
Last traded price: $44.16
+471.3% intraday (volume over 24.7M shares vs. avg. 7.5M)
Investor Takeaway
MiNK’s stunning stock rally is not just hype — it's underpinned by compelling, peer-reviewed clinical data in solid tumors, a field with high unmet needs. While it's early-stage and risks remain (including scalability and future trial results), breakthrough results like this can drive significant upside in nano-cap biotech.
Risk-tolerant investors watching the immuno-oncology space may want to track further trial readouts in gastric cancer and potential strategic interest from larger pharma players.
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