Prothena Surges on Clinical Data Hopes - Analyst Blog

Prothena Corporation PRTA surged a whopping 27.5% and also touched a 52-week high after the company announced that interim data from a phase I study on its pipeline candidate, NEOD001, will be presented at the XIV International Symposium on Amyloidosis (ISA).

The study is evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of the candidate in patients suffering from immunoglobulin light chain AL amyloidosis and persistent organ dysfunction. The company has plans to initiate a phase II/III study on the candidate in the fourth quarter of 2014.

NEOD001 currently enjoys orphan drug designation for the treatment of AL and amyloid A AA amyloidosis in the U.S. and for the treatment of AL amyloidosis in the EU. Prothena mentioned in its press release that there are no approved treatments for AL amyloidosis that directly target potentially toxic forms of the AL protein at this moment.

Prothena stated further that AL amyloidosis affects approximately 15,000 patients in the U.S. and EU. As per company sources, an estimated 1,200 to 3,200 new cases are reported each year in the U.S. As a result successful development of NEOD001 will open up an untapped decent market for Prothena. We are encouraged by the company's progress with the candidate so far and expect investor focus to remain on NEOD001 going forward.

Prothena's pipeline also includes PRX002 and PRX003. PRX002 is being developed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and is currently in preclinical development. The company intends to initiate phase I study on the candidate later in 2014. Prothena has a worldwide collaboration agreement with Roche (RHHBY) for PRX002.

Prothena's other candidate, PRX003, is being developed for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. The company intends to complete Investigational New Drug application-enabling toxicology studies on the candidate this year. Prothena plans to start phase I studies on PRX003 next year.

Prothena currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector include Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN and Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD. Both stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).