Merckx news is the problem
Resverlogix Falls on Merck's `Huge Success' With Rival Cholesterol Drug
By Meg Tirrell - Nov 17, 2010 9:38 AM PT
Resverlogix Corp. fell in Toronto trading, extending a drop of 30 percent yesterday, after new research on the company’s experimental cholesterol pill today was overshadowed by “very impressive” results from Merck & Co.
fell in Toronto trading, extending a drop of 30 percent yesterday, after new research on the company’s experimental cholesterol pill today was overshadowed by “very impressive” results from
Resverlogix fell 18 percent to C$3.68 at 12:16 p.m. New York time in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. Shares of the Calgary-based company gained 86 percent this year before today.
The company’s medicine, RVX-208, aims to increase levels of apolipoprotein A-1, a protein associated with good cholesterol. The drug boosted that protein in research reported today from the second of three stages of tests generally needed for U.S. approval, though the result wasn’t statistically significant. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, today said its drug, anacetrapib, raised good cholesterol and slashed bad cholesterol in a separate study.
“The Resverlogix trial was good -- not a huge success; it didn’t knock it out of the park, but it worked,” Simos Simeonidis, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw LLC, said in a telephone interview today. “The Merck trial is very impressive -- it’s a huge success for them.”
The Resverlogix study, of 299 coronary artery-disease patients, showed that people on the highest dose of RVX-208 -- 300 milligrams a day -- had an 8.3 percent increase in HDL levels by the end of 12 weeks compared with those taking a placebo. Some patients treated with the drug had significant increases in liver enzymes, which were reversible and showed no evidence of liver damage, the researchers said.
‘Came Close’
“I’m not concerned about the fact that they didn’t reach statistical significance,” Simeonidis said. “The fact that they came close and didn’t meet it I don’t see as an issue. If that happened in phase three, you’d have to redo the trial.”
Researchers said the drug boosted good cholesterol, or HDL, which helps decongest arteries, though raising HDL wasn’t the primary goal of the trial.
“It was a very successful study,” Resverlogix Chief Executive Officer Donald McCaffrey said today in a telephone interview. “Everything we wanted to see in this particular trial, we saw. It’s very good news for us.”
Resverlogix has started another phase 2 trial of RVX-208, using intravascular ultrasound to measure changes in plaque in patients with coronary artery disease treated with the drug. The company will be able to fund that trial itself, McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey said he is seeking funding for final-stage trials. “We’re in detailed discussions with pretty much every major pharmaceutical company,” he said. “They understand our data was highly successful today.”
Merck Results
Merck’s anacetrapib had a 40 percent drop in bad cholesterol and a 138 percent rise in the good cholesterol that ferries fat from the blood, a study today found.
Merck shares rose 54 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $34.64 at 12:26 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock dropped 6.7 percent this year before today.
Resverlogix and Merck each reported study results at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.
“The Merck trial definitely doesn’t bode well for Resverlogix in terms of competition,” Simeonidis said. “It creates a lot more risk for Resverlogix because it has to compete with someone who’s ahead of them. It doesn’t mean their drug couldn’t get to the market and sell $1 billion worth. Merck’s drug is much further ahead.”