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Update: RXi Pharmaceuticals Presents New RXI-109 Phase 2a Data, Bull Case Strengthens
Yesterday, 04:10 PM ET | by Christopher F. Davis | About: RXII
Summary
RXi Pharmaceuticals just released new results from its review of the first two enrolled patients' clinical photographs in the first Phase 2a clinical trial of RXI-109.
When I recently opined on the attractiveness of RXi stock, I had highlighted the potential of the company’s multi-center randomized controlled trial on scar prevention.
The improvement is crystal clear; the bull case has just gotten much stronger.
RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXII) has just released new results from its review of the first two enrolled patients' clinical photographs in the first Phase 2a clinical trial (RXI-109-1301) of the company's leading drug candidate, RXI-109. The results are extremely encouraging and follow-up a presentation made at a one month time point which was widely regarded as premature and led to RXi's stock being cut nearly in half. The new results indicate that treatment with the RXI-109, may indeed be effective in suppressing recurrence of hypertrophic scars at the 3-month time point. The photos showed drastic improvement over the one-month time point. Patients will continue to be monitored through 9 months to evaluate if this outcome persists over time. These results are on slides 15 and 16. The improvement is crystal clear.
When I recently opined on the attractiveness of RXi stock, I had highlighted the potential of the company's multi-center randomized controlled trial on scar prevention. Recall that this trial is being conducted in healthy subjects who undergo an elective surgical revision of a transverse hypertrophic scar on their abdomen. In this study, the patients undergo scar revision surgery, after which they are treated with RXI-109 on one end of the scar and placebo on the opposite end of the scar. Last month the company announced that based on early 1-month observations, the dosing regimen in these trials would be optimized setting the company up to move forward with the ideal dosing for the prevention of scarring after surgery.
The present news is very bullish. It shows that RXI-109 is indeed having an effect. The results are much more distinguishable compared to the data shown last month. But remember, it can take 6 months to a year for a real effect to be seen. Complete 3-month results from this trial are expected to be available in Q1 2015. I am very pleased with this release as it has caused a short-covering rally in the stock and has brought it back up to $2.15. Of course, the stock will need to rebound another $0.40 or 18.6% to be back to where it was prior to the run-up before the disappointing one-month release. As investors in biotech, we need to be aware of the data and the cash stance of the company. This data is extremely positive and the information garnered from these early results can help optimize dosing and observation approaches for a clinical benefit of RXI-109. This should save the company some cash going forward as the new information is incorporated into future trials. The news reinforces my bullish stance. I continue to recommend a buy in RXII shares.
Disclosure: The author is long RXII. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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