Clinuvel stroke drug shows ‘positive’ results – but some adverse effects left unclear

Clinuvel (ASX:CUV) shares have jumped on Tuesday morning on higher than average volumes as the health care company reported a clinical trial win with its stroke drug, ‘PRENUMBRA’ – chemical name afamelanotide.

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Shares jumped over 2% in Wednesday morning trades in what will be taken as relief by some shareholders given the stock’s declines across the last twelve months.

The hormone drug, marketed by Clinuvel as PRENUMBRA Instant, was “well tolerated” but “mild and transient treatment-related adverse events [were] reported.”

“With the CUV801 and CUV803 studies we have generated a small, but encouraging, data set that demonstrates the drug’s safety profile in patients with strokes of varying degrees of severity, as well as first indications that patients may benefit from treatment,” Clinuvel Chair Prof. Jeffrey Rosenfeld said.

But Rosenfeld also noted stroke patients aren’t exactly Clinuvel’s bread and butter.

In a trend likely familiar to ASX biotech watchers, the company is using an established and well-known drug and then trying it out on a condition it wasn’t necessarily made for – arterial ischaemic strokes.

The results, however, are consistent with former studies the company’s thrown using the same drug.

Patients in this trial were dosed after five days, but as for what adverse reactions actually were, in terms of symptomatology, weren’t specifically clarified.

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“Two of the three patients with moderate-to-severe stroke (NIHSS scores 17 and 19) passed away due to complications unrelated to afamelanotide treatment,” the company added.

CUV last traded at $11.96/sh.

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