Canadian Drug Companies

[Arctec]

Liponex shares jump


Tuesday, January 02, 2007

TORONTO — Shares in Ottawa-based drug developer Liponex Inc. were jolted upward by more than half to a new high Tuesday on speculation about its treatment to raise levels of so-called good cholesterol.

Hopes rose for Liponex's CRD5, a drug derived from soybeans and intended to increase concentrations of high-density lipoproteins in the blood, after Pfizer Inc. terminated work in early December on its torcetrapib cardiovascular drug following an elevated death rate among patients receiving it.

Liponex shares traded Tuesday morning as high as $2.45, jumping 91 cents on the TSX session, after having risen steadily from 95 cents before the Pfizer announcement.

CRD5 is in a Phase 1-2 trial on 50 heart patients in Ottawa, after an initial test showed 20 per cent increases in HDL with “no significant adverse events.”

Results of the new trial are expected early this year.