Although the latest news from the laboratory was mixed for pharmaceutical companySanofi(NASDAQ: SNY) on Tuesday, investors gave the company the benefit of the doubt. They bid the share price up by more than 2% on the day, making it a mirror image of the 2%-plus decline of the S&P 500 index.
1 out of 3 trials was a success
Sanofi published readouts of three phase 3 trials of its tolebrutinib multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment. In the first study, the drug met its primary endpoint of delaying time to onset of confirmed disability progression in patients with non-relapsing, secondary progressive MS (nrSPMS), compared to a placebo.
That was the good news. The not-so-good news came from the remaining two trials that put tolebrutinib through its paces for relapsing MS. Sanofi said the drug didn't demonstrate significance in its primary endpoint of reducing the annualized relapse rate, compared to the company's Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medication Aubagio.
The results were positive enough for company management to wax bullish about the future of the drug. Sanofi quoted Houman Ashrafian, its head of research and development, as saying that it "represents an unprecedented breakthrough as a potential first-in-disease treatment option with clinically meaningful benefit in disability accumulation."
Determined to win approval
In a subsequent interview with industry news site Fierce Biotech, Ashrafian said that Sanofi still aims to win FDA approval for tolebrutinib. The company is encouraged by the drug's performance in combating nrSPMS. Management previously stated that the treatment has the potential to be a blockbuster drug.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
