Shares in drug company Pozen traded up more than 40 cents per share Friday after the company disclosed two trials demonstrated the efficacy of its proposed migraine drug Trexima.
Just a year ago, on June 9, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration rejected Trexima. The news ignited a crash in Pozen shares, which collapsed to $5.26 from $13.90. More than 25 million shares traded hands that day.
The results of the tests are to be announced on Saturday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American headache Society.
Pozen (NASDAQ: POZN) closed Friday at $15.83, up 33 cents, or 2.1 percent. Shares had reached as high as $15.92 earlier in the day.
GlaxoSmithKline is partnering with Pozen in Trexima’s development. The FDA is still reviewing the drug. Pozen resubmitted information to the FDA in March in another bid to gain approval. GSK has paid Pozen more than $35 million thus far to develop the drug.
Pozen used its proprietary technology to combine an existing GSK migraine drug Imitrex with naproxen, a non-sterodial anti-inflammatory drug.
The trials showed Trexima was “nearly twice as effective as placebo” and also “eliminated all traditional migraine symptoms” at two hours and four hours after patients took one table. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and light sensitivity.
"I believe this key endpoint will have more meaning to patients, as it measures when the whole migraine is gone rather than just the head pain," said Paul Winner, lead author and director of the Palm Beach Headache Center, in a statement released by Pozen. "In these studies we found Trexima consistently eliminated migraine symptoms in more patients without the need for rescue medication."
Pozen also announced positive test results in April.
