(Alliance News) - Verona Pharma PLC on Friday said the impact of Covid-19 on clinical trials in the first half has been limited, and the company remains on track to start its Phase 3 clinical trials with Ensifentrine for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease later in 2020.
The company also said it has received a notice from US Food & Drug Administration to proceed with a study of Ensifentrine in patients with Covid-19.
Shares in the company were up 28% at 93.08 pence each in London, hitting a high of 97.00p. Since the start of 2020, the stock has gained 50% in value.
The company plans to initiate a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical study to evaluate Ensifentrine delivered via pressurized metered-dose inhaler formulation as a treatment for patients hospitalized with Covid-19 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The study is expected to start in the third-quarter of 2020.
Ensifentrine is a investigational inhaled therapy that has been shown to act as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in one compound.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for respiratory diseases recorded a pretax loss of USD19.6 million for the six months to June 30, widened from USD17.8 million loss a year ago.
The widened loss was attributed to higher general and administrative costs, which increased to GBP7.6 million from GBP4.0 million. Research and development costs fell to GBP12.1 million from GBP15.8 million.
For the second-quarter to June-end, the company's pretax loss narrowed to GBP8.8 million from GBP11.1 million.
Verona ended the first half with net cash, cash equivalents and short term investments of GBP18.1 million. In July, the company raised USD200 million via private placement of shares.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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