Small biotech Alder Biopharmaceuticals (ALDR) surged Monday after it reported positive data in the ongoing race for the next big migraine treatment.
Alder was following up on a phase-two trial that it had first reported last March, when 31% to 33% of patients (depending on the dose) who received a single intravenous infusion of Alder's anti-CGRP antibody ALD403 enjoyed at least a 75% reduction in migraine days over 12 weeks. After 24 weeks, between 29% and 31% experienced the same reduction, vs. 20% of the control group.
Alder is competing with big names Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA), Amgen (AMGN) and Eli Lilly (LLY) to bring an anti-CGRP antibody to market.
Leerink analyst Joseph Schwartz wrote that, so far, the clinical-trial data haven't much differentiated the drug candidates from each other, but the fact that patients taking a single dose of ALD403 as low as 30 mg improved pointed toward a possible advantage.
"A surprising degree of durability in 30 mg suggests a potential subcutaneous formulation in the upcoming Phase 3 PROMISE2 trial," Schwartz wrote in a research note. "Alder could benefit from tapping both the IV and self-administration (e.g., subcutaneous) markets to differentiate ALD403 from its anti-CGRP competitors."
Teva's anti-CGRP antibody produced similar results with a monthly subcutaneous dose, noted Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat in an email.
Alder stock ended the trading day up 6.1% to 28.72 on the stock market today. Teva was down a fraction to 54.33, while Amgen rose fractionally to 166.56 and Lilly edged up to 81.98.
IBD'S TAKE: Alder Biopharma has no product on the market, so it's a very risky investment. Amgen, though, is one of the strongest biotech stocks, rating No. 5 in the industry group. See Amgen's Stock Checkup to learn why.
