MediciNova shares plunge as asthma drug fails in Ph IIb trial

25 May 2012

Shares in USA-based MediciNova (Nasdaq: MNOV) plummeted 51% to $1.35 in extended trading on Wednesday, after the company announced that preliminary results from a hospital emergency department (ED)-based Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating MN-221 in patients with acute exacerbations of asthma did not statistically meet the primary endpoint, improvement in FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume in One Second) compared to placebo.

However, the company noted, MN-221 showed a significant benefit over placebo for FEV1 (liters) Area Under the Curve (AUC Hour 0-1, 0-2, 0-3) of change from baseline (p=0.043, p=0.050, p=0.066 respectively) in the data set defined below. The trial also demonstrated a reduction in hospital admissions with MN-221 added to standard drug treatments. Moreover, there was a significant improvement in clinical symptoms with MN-221 treated patients and the safety profile of MN-221 continues to be positive as no safety/tolerability issues of clinical significance were observed.

Company aims to control variable moving into Ph III

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