ASNV pain drug meets main goal
<<From $.07 to $1.49 in a little over a day. I was never a shareholder, but happened to listen the the CC last month when the announced the failure of the companion trial to this with a p=0.07. They had picked a slighly different time frame for their pain endpoint measurement than in prior trials for that indication. Had they stuck with the original time frame the trial would have been statistically successful. The stock collapsed, they dropped further efforts for that indication, laid off most of their people and became a virtual company. This was a $4 to $5 stock this summer. You could hear the pain in the CEOs voice. This trial below came in successful for another indication and the company may survive.>>
UPDATE 2-Anesiva's pain drug meets main goal; shares zoom
Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:40pm EST
BANGALORE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Anesiva Inc's (ANSV.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) experimental pain drug Adlea met the main goal of a late-stage trial, raising hopes that the tiny biopharmaceutical company may find a partner to further develop the drug and prompting a six-fold jump in its market value.
"Anesiva should be able to go out and say that this is a drug that works and they should be able to attract a development partner sometime next year," Zacks Investment analyst Jason Napodano said.
Adlea significantly reduced post-surgical pain in four to 48 hours in patients who underwent total knee-replacement surgery, compared with a dummy drug, in the late-stage trial.
The drug candidate also reduced the intake of opioid medication in patients, the company, whose market capitalization stood at about $2.9 million on Monday, said.
The drug candidate's success provides a break for Anesiva, whose market value has eroded by about $138 million since the start of the year.
In November, the company had withdrawn its pain drug Zingo from U.S. markets, citing manufacturing problems, and cut its workforce by 85 percent to 15 employees to preserve capital.
The latest trial data on Adlea could breathe new life into the struggling company, which has been looking for a partner for the pain drug.
Tuesday's announcement puts Anesiva back in the reckoning to find a partner, or license the drug. A partnership is necessary for the company to conduct an additional late-stage study to prove Adlea's efficacy, Zacks Investment's Napodano and Pacific Growth Equities analyst Liana Moussatos said.
"I would say that before the news today they weren't going to get anything. Today it is at least more likely that there will be a deal," Zacks Investment's Napodano said.
Last month, Anesiva said Adlea failed to reduce pain in four to 32 hours in patients who had surgery to remove bony lumps in the feet, and was looking for a partner to develop Adlea.
But the drug had showed efficacy in reducing pain in four to 48 hours after surgery in an earlier late-stage study.
Anesiva shares shot up to a high of 46 cents, before falling back to trade up 27 cents at 34 cents Tuesday on Nasdaq.
"At this point they don't have the luxury to run the next trial and wait around, and file and wait till 2010 or 2011 to get the drug on the market themselves," Zacks Investment's Napodano said.
