Regeneron Arthritis Pain Drug Scores In Mid-Stage Trial
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN ) said Monday that its experimental antibody for arthritis pain succeeded in a mid-stage trial, but shares were flat in early trading as the results were expected. The study enrolled 421 sufferers of moderate-to-severe hip and knee pain who’d been unsuccessful with standard painkillers. After 16 weeks of treatment, the group taking Regeneron’s fasinumab had improved by more than 3 points on a 10-point pain scale, significantly better than the placebo group. About 17% of the group taking fasinumab experienced adverse events, Regeneron said, including non-inflammatory joint pain, prickling and burning sensations in the skin, numbness and swelling. The investigators also did extensive imaging of the subjects, because the class of medicines to which fasinumab belongs — nerve growth factor (NGF) antibodies — has been associated with joint damage. They wound up excluding 2% of subjects due to imaging results, and five patients among the remainder suffered subchondral insufficiency fractures, or stress fractures on abnormal bones. Regeneron stock was near 377 in early trading on the stock market today . Shares touched an 18-month below 349 in late March, and Regeneron stock has a weak IBD Composite Rating of 47, putting it among the lower half of all stocks on the basis of key metrics such as earnings and sales growth. Regeneron had already signaled that the trial was going well earlier this year by starting a large phase-three trial of the drug, so the results weren’t especially surprising to analysts. It also lost a potential competitor in late March, when Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) stopped development of its own NGF antibody fulranumab, which was in late-stage trials for arthritis pain. RBC Capital Markets analyst Adnan Butt wrote at the time that J&J’s decision was based on pipeline prioritization, not on any problems with the drug itself. On Monday, Butt praised the effectiveness of fasinumab in the trial but wrote that the safety “bears watching.” “Overall, should this program succeed, it could be another blockbuster candidate, which unlike others could be an upside driver since it comes with regulatory and mechanistic safety concerns, hence is not a major focus for investors at this time, aside from a development cost and timeline standpoint,” Butt wrote in his research note.