* Shares hit all-time high on Monday
* Company's drug cuts risk of severe COVID-19 by 79%
* Some researchers caution on enthusiasm
(Recasts, adds comment from CEO and academic expert)
By Aakash B
July 20 (Reuters) - Synairgen shares rose almost
sixfold on Monday after the drugmaker said its medicine helped
reduce the risk of severe cases in hospitalised patients with
COVID-19, but some experts have cautioned against too much
optimism in the market.
A study of the company's inhalable formulation of interferon
beta, SNG001, showed patients who were given the treatment had a
79% lower risk of developing severe forms of the disease caused
by the new coronavirus or possible death, compared to those on a
placebo.
Patients who received the drug were also more than twice as
likely to recover from COVID-19, data from the trial showed.
"This assessment of SNG001 in COVID-19 patients could signal
a major breakthrough in the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19
patients," Synairgen Chief Executive Richard Marsden said.
Shares of AIM-listed Synairgen hit a record high of 218
pence by afternoon, putting its market cap at about 326 million
pounds ($412 million) compared to 54.5 million pounds on Friday.
But the scientists say more data is needed to fully support
the benefits of the drug, a form of naturally occurring protein
which regulates the body's antiviral responses.
"There are reasons to believe it could well be an effective
treatment, but these results, while encouraging, should not be
taken to mean that the treatment is so dramatic that everyone
should be given it," said Stephen Evans, professor of
pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine.
The study had more than 100 participants from nine hospitals
in Britain. Patients were evenly matched on average age,
comorbidities and average duration of COVID-19 symptoms before
the enrolment.
"There is a need for many more patients to be recruited and
for any adverse effects to be carefully evaluated," Evans said.
The measure of breathlessness was markedly reduced in the
study, said Synairgen, which was formed by three professors from
the University of Southampton to focus on lung medication.
($1 = 0.7913 pounds)
(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu and Pushkala Aripaka in
Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Edmund Blair)