Shares of biopharmaceutical company Icagen, Inc.(NASDAQ: ICGN) were up as much as 65 percent from Monday’s close in morning trading on Tuesday, after the company announced favorable results from a late-stage clinical trial of Senicapoc, a potential new treatment for asthma.
“We are pleased with the results of this study, and believe that they justify further evaluation of Senicapoc as a novel approach to the treatment of asthma,” said Seth Hetherington, M.D., Senior Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for Icagen.
A total of 34 patients with asthmatic responses to inhaled allergen were enrolled at two clinical research centers in the United Kingdom and 31 of them were evaluable for the study goals.
In the study, patients who received Senicapoc demonstrated an improvement in all measures of late asthmatic response (LAR), while those who received only dummy drugs had no improvements, the company said in a statement.
A secondary goal of the study was to gauge the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, a measure of airway inflammation that is generally at an elevated level in asthmatic patients. The study found that senicapoc reduced exhaled nitric acid by 24 percent compared to study participants who received the placebo.
“We believe that the combination of the reduction in LAR among the Senicapoc-treated patients, along with the improvement in the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, is consistent with the potential for an anti-inflammatory effect of Senicapoc, a selective blocker of the KCa3.1 channel,” said Dr. Hetherington.
The North Carolina-based Icogen is currently evaluating strategic options concerning the future of the company, including a possible partnership or the sale of the company.
“We have received interest from several companies to partner us in this program and we will certainly pursue discussions as appropriate,” Chief Financial Officer Richard Katz said in a statement.
Icagen is also developing four proof-of-concept studies in the areas of asthma, epilepsy and pain, but do not plan to pursue the programs any further than the concept phase without additional capital that could come in a variety of forms.
