Synairgen shares drop as AstraZeneca stops asthma drug study

Synairgen's, the respiratory drug discovery and development company, hit the skids after its partner Astrazeneca announced that it has dropped its clinical trial for asthma drug AZD9412.

AZD9412, which is a form of inhaled interferon beta, was investigated in an INEXAS trial in patients with asthma upon onset of common cold symptoms. Previous studies showed that infection with the common cold can lead to severe exacerbations in asthma patients and dosing with interferon can boost antiviral defences, with the potential for a reduction in severe exacerbations.

The Phase IIa trial however found a very low number of reported severe exacerbations making it difficult to determine the effectiveness of the drug.

Analyst at N+1 Singer Jamie constable commented on the result saying it was “disappointing”.

AstraZeneca will review the data and study design before deciding on the best way forward for the programme.

Co-founder of Synairgen Professor Stephen Holgate said: "New treatments to prevent severe exacerbations are needed and most exacerbations are caused by the common cold and flu. Unexpectedly, colds did not cause as many asthma exacerbations as were predicted in this clinical trial population. We hope to learn from the results of this trial which population within severe asthma, or other respiratory diseases, will most benefit from AZD9412 and should be included in future trials."

Chief Executive Richard Marsden said: "Although the exacerbation rate in the entire population to date has been lower than we expected based on the assumptions behind the trial design, we look forward to reviewing the other clinically important qualitative and quantitative measures of the potential effectiveness of AZD9412, building on the experience of our previous trial outcomes in this section of the asthmatic population."

Synairgen’s shares dropped 32.35% to 23p at 1624 BST on Wednesday.