Stanford set for drug trial boost
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Stanford Rook is expected to release positive results of a big clinical trial for its tuberculosis drug on Tuesday - a large step towards a market worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
An independent safety board is meeting this weekend to tabulate the results of a "phase III," or final-stage clinical trial on several hundred patients in South Africa, where the infectious disease is prevalent, according to Robin Gilbert, analyst with Panmure Gordon.
The results are expected to reflect those of earlier trials in Vietnam, which showed the drug, SRL172, was more effective against the disease when used with common antibiotics made by Novartis, Hoechst and others, than on its own.
"If the Vietnamese trial results are reproduced over here, they could have themselves a blockbuster," said Erling Refsum, analyst at Yamaichi International (Europe). "We already know the drug works. This trial is more of a regulatory hoop they have to go through to get approval."
Stanford Rook shares have risen 19 per cent in the last five days, from a 52-week low of 445p to 531.5p in anticipation of the results.
The company, which is also developing the same "immunotherapy" drug as a treatment for various cancers and HIV, has said it plans to file for approval for the drug as a tuberculosis treatment in 1998.
Tuberculosis kills about 3 million people each year, mostly in developing regions such as Africa and Asia.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments