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Bayer reported positive results in a late-stage trial of an experimental stroke prevention medicine, sending its shares up almost 10 per cent on Monday.
The results are a respite for the German conglomerate that has faced declining sales of its blockbuster drugs and ongoing legal challenges in the US.
Patients who took a 50mg daily dose of the inhibitor asundexian alongside a standard anti-platelet therapy were “significantly” at a lower risk of a second stroke compared with those on a placebo, Bayer said. The drug is intended for patients who have already suffered a non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke or a high-risk transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke.
Non-cardioembolic ischemic strokes occur when blood clots begin outside the heart and travel to the brain, blocking the vessels supplying it. Patients who suffer from these strokes are at risk of another such event.
Treatment with asundexian did not show an increased risk of bleeding. The full phase 3 trial results will be announced at an upcoming scientific congress, Bayer said.
The positive trial results are an encouraging signal for a company that has been plagued by long-running American litigation over claims that glyphosate, an ingredient in the herbicide Roundup manufactured by its US-based subsidiary Monsanto, can cause cancer. Bayer and regulators have rejected those allegations.
Bayer inherited the claims following its $63bn acquisition of Monsanto in 2018.
Bayer has also suffered falling sales of its blockbuster Xarelto anticoagulant due to competition from generic competitors. In addition, sales of eye drug Eylea have dropped following challenges by biosimilars — highly similar but not identical copies of biological medicines.
Earlier this year the company announced plans to close a factory in Germany for the first time and intends to make more lay-offs in addition to 11,000 jobs already cut.
Bayer said asundexian has been granted Fast Track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration as a potential treatment for stroke prevention, which could get the drugs to patients earlier. The company will also seek approval from regulators globally.
Christian Rommel, Bayer pharmaceutical’s head of research and development, described the results as “a new way to help protect patients from a recurrent stroke”.
Shares were trading at €30.32 in Frankfurt on Monday afternoon, bringing the rise this year to 56 per cent.
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