(Yicai Global) Nov. 8 -- CK Life Sciences International stock has more than tripled over the past few days after the biotech firm announced its American subsidiary was optimistic about its upcoming melanoma vaccine and prepping to deliver an update on its clinical data from the related research.

Its share price [HKG:0775] hit HKG1.16 (15 US cents) at 10.28 a.m. today, up 222 percent from its closing price of HKD0.36 on Nov. 5 and taking its market capitalization to near HKD11.2 billion (USD1.4 billion).

The Hong Kong-based firm, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, said in Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on Nov. 6 that its US immuno-oncology arm Polynoma was optimistic about initial research data, which is still subject to further regulatory reviews. Seviprotimut-L could become an option for the adjuvant treatment of patients with localized melanoma and an important innovation in the disease's vaccine-based treatment, for which no solution currently has approval, the filing added.

Polynoma's Melanoma Antigen Vaccine Immunotherapy Study, or MAVIS, is a phase-three trial assessing the safety and efficacy of seviprotimut-L, an investigational melanoma vaccine candidate. The unit will present clinical data from the research at the 2019 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's annual meeting in Maryland today.

The vaccine is able to recognize proteins present in specific cancer cells and then prevent these cells from growing, ergo stopping the cancer from recurring. It can also remove cancer cells that remain after treatment.

Editor: James Boynton