Aura Biosciences (AURA) said Monday that data from a completed phase 1 trial of bel-sar in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer demonstrated a "robust anti-tumor immune response."

The company said the trial enrolled 15 patients, with primary endpoints of evaluating the safety and feasibility of bel-sar alone in five patients and bel-sar with light activation in 10 patients.

Clinical complete responses were observed with a single, low dose of bel-sar in patients with intermediate and high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, supporting bel-sar's potential as a new treatment instead of, or ahead of, the standard of care procedure, the company said.

Bel-sar was also well tolerated as drug-related grade 1 events were reported in less than 10% of the patients, the company said.