Sep 14, 2021
Bellus Health soars after positive clinical trial for chronic cough treatment
There was a red-hot market for raising biotech capital last year: Next Edge Capital's Eden Rahim
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Shares in Canadian biopharma firm Bellus Health Inc. extended their rally Tuesday after the Quebec-based company announced favourable results for the second phase of a new clinical trial.
On Monday, Bellus Health saw its shares rise as much as 36 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange before closing with a 21 per cent gain to $6.03. The catalyst was a Bellus release announcing that an independent statistical team found strong clinical efficacy for the company’s new treatment for chronic coughing.
The enthusiasm carried into Tuesday, with shares up another 20 per cent to $7.24 on the TSX in late morning trading.
According to the administrative analysis, Bellus Health’s “SOOTHE trial” for its new drug BLU-5937 “met the stringent predefined probability threshold for a clinically meaningful reduction in placebo-adjusted 24-hour cough frequency.” No serious adverse events were reported and limited taste-related incidents were observed.
In a statement, Bellus President and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Bellini said those results are encouraging for the next step of Phase 3 trials.
"With trial enrollment progressing as planned, we anticipate announcing topline data in the fourth quarter of 2021,” said Bellini.
