Oxford BioMedica says Parkinson's drug 'promising'

14th Jun 2010 08:18

Oxford BioMedica's ongoing Phase I/II trial of its ProSavin drug to treat Parkinson's disease has shown "sustained" improvements in patients.Follow-up data suggests that patients continued to benefit from ProSavin after two years and that ProSavin was safe and well tolerated. Of the first cohort of patients, treated at the lowest initial dose level, two out of three showed sustained improvement in motor function of 30% at two years versus 28.5% at one year, although the third did not respond so markedly.Due to these "promising" results, Oxford has received regulatory approval to use a modified administration procedure that will reduce surgery time and may enhance the efficacy of ProSavin. "We are pleased with this two-year follow-up data which further demonstrates that ProSavin is both safe and effective for improving the quality of life of patients suffering with Parkinson's disease even at these initial low doses," chief executive John Dawson said. "We are excited about the forthcoming dose escalation, which utilises the new administration method, which could further enhance efficacy and would therefore increase the product's value as we move forward in clinical development."Panmure Gordon said it is encouraged by the news. The broker upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' in October when a dose response was observed in a second cohort of patients testing ProSavin. "We expect the two year data from that cohort to emerge in the coming weeks and should be even better than that of the first cohort reported today," it said, repeating ;buy' advice and 17p price target.