Aquinox soars on new results with bladder drug

Canadian drug developed Aquinox Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AQXP) saw its shares rocket by more than 480% to $10.15 on Friday, fuelled by report of positive results from secondary endpoints from the Phase II Leadership trial with AQX-1125 in patients with bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC).

Just last month, reported disappointing results from its Phase II FLAGSHIP clinical trial with AQX-1125, which failed to demonstrate efficacy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with a history of frequent exacerbations, sending the company’s shares down 8.9% to $1.94 (The Pharma Letter July 13).

"Consistently positive results from multiple secondary endpoints have strengthened our confidence in further development of AQX-1125 for BPS/IC," said David Main, president and chief executive of Aquinox. "The encouraging effect of AQX-1125 observed on the primary endpoint of reduction in pain together with several statistically-significant secondary endpoints, underscore the potential of AQX-1125 as a once daily, oral therapy for this debilitating disease," he noted.