Drug development firm ImmuPharma said Monday that its key scientific collaboration partner and the inventor of ImmuPharma's lead compound, Lupuzor, has confirmed the effectiveness of a product known as Lupuzor peptide P140. Partner CNRS released a statement saying that in a clinical trial involving 149 patients suffering with the Lupus, an autoimmune disease, the peptide was well tolerated by patients and led to a regression of the disease. It said: "Under the CNRS patent, ImmuPharma-France, which funded the trial, has an exclusive licence to use the peptide. Now the final phase of clinical tests should soon confirm these results and contribute to the development of a drug without the side effects of existing treatments, which use cortico-steroids and immuno-suppressants." The share price rose 9.73% to 62p by 13:40.NR