Shares of Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. ALDR surged 49.6% after the company announced positive top-line results from a phase I study and a phase IIb study on its migraine prevention candidate, ALD403.
Data from the phase IIb study, which evaluated ALD403 in patients with chronic migraine, revealed that the candidate acted rapidly and prevented migraine over the entire study period of 12 weeks, thereby meeting both the primary and secondary efficacy endpoints. In addition, results from the phase I study demonstrated that the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the candidate by an intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection supported a quarterly single-injection dosing strategy.
Meanwhile, Alder is currently evaluating the candidate in the phase III PROMISE 1 study in patients with frequent episodic migraine as well. The company expects to initiate the second phase III study, PROMISE 2, on ALD403 in patients with chronic migraine in the second half of the year. In addition, a self-injected formulation of the candidate is anticipated to enter late-stage development to complement the infusion formulations evaluated in both the PROMISE 1 and PROMISE 2 studies.
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, it has been estimated that about 36 million individuals in the U.S. suffer from migraines. As stated by American Migraine Foundation, the prevalence of migraine in women is three times more often than in men, reflecting about 30% of women over a lifetime.
Drugs that are currently approved to treat migraine include Imitrex, Maxalt, Axert and Frova among others.
Alder currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few of better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMAG, Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. EBS and Anika Therapeutics Inc. ANIK, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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