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News News by industry Life Sciences Second pipeline blow for Alizyme | Second pipeline blow for Alizyme |
| Written by Lautaro Vargas | |
| Wednesday, 30 July 2008 | |
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Alizyme plc, suffered another huge blow to its product pipeline with the announcement that its ulcerative colitis drug, COLAL-PRED, had missed a key efficacy goal during large-scale Phase III trials. Over 45 per cent has been wiped off the Cambridge biotech’s share price following the news, which comes three months after it announced the discontinuation of development of its irritable bowel syndrome drug candidate, renzapride, following poor Phase III results. However, COLAL-PRED reached its safety targets and Alizyme is yet to drop the drug, which increased in importance to the company following the failure of renzapride. “We are pleased to report that the headline results of this study indicate that COLAL-PRED is a safe steroid in the treatment of ulcerative colitis,” said chief executive, Tim McCarthy. “The headline results also indicate that this product has potential for maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis. “We will continue to analyse the results and, in conjunction with our partners and regulatory advisors, establish the optimum way forward in commercialising this product.” Ulcerative colitis is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disease of the colon for which there is an unmet medical need for a therapy that is both effective and safe. The ‘gold standard’ in terms of efficacy is conventional oral prednisolone, though this has significant adverse effects that limit its clinical use. The share price dropped a massive 42 per cent, down 6.5p to 9p a share when the results were first announced and has since slid to 8.25p. The price was at 36p in April prior to the renzapride announcement. |
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