Menlo puts brave face on serlopitant setback

Californian biotech Menlo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MNLO) is solely focused on the development of serlopitant, so it was perhaps not surprising that its failure in a Phase II trial caused the company’s share price to nosedive by 77% to $8.17 on Monday.

But as Menlo is developing serlopitant for the treatment of severe itching associated with various underlying dermatologic conditions and for the treatment of refractory chronic cough, the negative results in pruritus in adults and adolescents with a history of atopic dermatitis may not be that disastrous.

Indeed, the NK1 receptor antagonist has already succeeded in two previous Phase II trials. This one did not meet its primary or key secondary efficacy endpoints, with no statistically-significant difference demonstrated between the serlopitant-treated groups and the placebo-treated arm.