Dyax hits new high on clinical trial results
Dyax Corp’s (Nasdaq: DYAX) stock skyrocketed Friday morning on the news of positive late-stage trial results for DX-88, its treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE), an inflammatory condition.
Dyax originally made the announcement after the market closed on Thursday, when shares of the Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company soared by $1.96, or 49%, to $5.96 in after-hours trading on the news.
By Friday morning, Dyax had continued to gain, and its stock was up $2.30, or by 57.5%, to a new 52-week-high of $6.30. Dyax was trading higher on extremely heavy volume of more than 20 million shares – nearly 100 times its three-month average volume of 242,000. Prior to today, the stock had traded between $2.63 (on June 28, 2006) and $5.09 (on April 13, 2006) in the past year.
The company’s most recent 72-patient, placebo-controlled, multi-center, phase III trial, was conducted at 34 sites in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Israel. The latest results showed no drug-related serious adverse side effects and statistically significant improvement of symptoms in patients.
HAE is a rare disorder that results from a genetic deficiency of the blood-based protein C1 inhibitor. HAE patients experience attacks of edema (swelling) in the hands, face, feet, abdomen, and/or throat (airway).
Swelling that involves the throat can close the airway and cause death by suffocation. Abdominal attacks often result in severe pain and intense vomiting serious enough to require hospitalization for pain management and IV fluids.
Dyax says the findings should position the company to apply for regulatory approval. The drug currently has Fast Track Designation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Although it has a number of drugs in development, Dyax is furthest along with DX-88, which it is developing with Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ). DX-88 is also being tested for the prevention of blood loss during certain surgical procedures.
