Shares of a small British biotechnology company soared Monday as the company announced data from an early clinical trial of an inhaled formulation of interferon beta-1a in Covid-19 patients.
Southampton, U.K.-based Synairgen said Monday that results from its randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II study of SNG001 in 101 hospitalized Covid-19 patients showed that patients receiving the drug had a 79% lower risk of developing severe disease – defined as disease requiring ventilation or resulting in death during the 16-day treatment period – than those who received placebo. In addition, the company said that those who received the drug were more than twice as likely to recover as those on placebo. Both results showed p values below 0.05 – indicative of statistical significance – and a respective odds ratio and hazard ratio of 0.21 and 2.19.
Shares of Synairgen were up more than 420% on the London Stock Exchange when U.K. markets closed Monday.
However, while Synairgen said that three patients in the placebo arm died, compared with none in the SNG001 arm, it did not state what the 79% lower risk of severe disease or the other measures translated into in terms of the overall number of patients in either arm. The company did not respond to an email requesting comment.
“We are all delighted with the trial results announced today, which showed that SNG001 greatly reduced the number of hospitalized patients who progressed from requiring oxygen to requiring ventilation,” CEO Richard Marsden said in a statement. “It also showed that patients who received SNG001 were at least twice as likely to recover to the point where their everyday activities were not compromised through having been infected by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, SNG001 has significantly reduced breathlessness, one of the main symptoms of severe Covid-19.”
Among patients who had more severe disease when they were admitted, meaning they required supplemental oxygen, those receiving the drug showed an increase in the likelihood of being discharged from the hospital during the study, but the difference was not statistically significant. Those on the drug were also more than twice as likely to have recovered by the end of the treatment period, though that result also did not achieve statistical significance.
SNG001 is also being developed for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Photo: Kaikoro, Getty Images
