Briefs: Alizyme misses key Phase III drug trial target; Astron Clinica partners to give free melanoma tests
Alizyme plc said its ulcerative colitis drug COLAL-PRED failed to make an important efficacy target in large-scale Phase III trials and that it is discussing options for the way forward with it partners.
It share price slid by over 40% on the news.
During the European phase III trial, the drug met its safety goal but did not show "non-inferiority" to conventional prednisolone.
But the Cambridge-based biotech said the drug did meet a secondary goal because it was statistically superior to prednisolone in the proportion of patients who were both efficacy and safety responders.
CEO Tim McCarthy: "We are pleased to report that the headline results of this study indicate that COLAL-PRED is a safe steroid in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. The headline results also indicate that this product has potential for maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis.
"We will continue to analyse the results and, in conjunction with our partners and regulatory advisors, establish the optimum way forward in commercialising this product."
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Astron Clinica has partnered with FM World Charities to provide free skin cancer screenings to all attendees on the Vans Warped Tour.
Cambridge-HQed Astron Clinica has recently launched its MoleMate skin cancer screening system in the US market. It is a non-invasive and pain-free melanoma screening device that enables evaluation of suspicious lesions within seconds and make instant clinical decisions 'on the spot'.
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The increase in the level of healthcare delivered by mobile medical practitioners outside hospitals will become a key driver within the medical device market over the next decade, according to a report by Cambridge UK based analysts Wireless Healthcare. As healthcare providers are pushing more diagnostic and monitoring processes out to the edge of their care networks, medical device vendors are responding by adding more advanced communications technology to their products.
The report, "Wireless Healthcare 2008", also identifies a number of consumer electronics companies that have successfully positioned their products within the mobile healthcare market.
Analyst Peter Kruger said: "Some of these companies are attempting to emulate Polar Electronics, who have built a strong presence in the ehealth sector and use their sports and fitness monitoring technology to capture vital signs data in ehealth applications."
