Vanda Schizophrenia Drug Meets Phase III Endpoint

by H.S. Ayoub
BioHealthInvestor.com


Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) look to open much higher on Thursday as the company announced early that its antipsychotic drug iloperidone met the primary endpoint in a phase III clinical trial evaluating the drug in Schizophrenia patiens.

Iloperidone showed statistically significant improvement compared to placebo on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS).

what is really exciting is that Vanda also investigated iloperidone's efficacy and safety in patients with predetermined genetic profiles. Vanda had found in earlier studies a polymorphism in a gene identified in 70% of patients thought to have schizophrenia. In this group, iloperidone showed a greater PANSS difference than the total patient population. Vanda is determined to find ways of tailoring antipsychotic drugs to individuals' needs based on their genetic profile.

The company anticipates a New Drug Application (NDA) should be filed by late 2007.

Shares of Vanda are trading almost 50% higher in pre-market action, as the stock closed on Wednesday at $15.50 a share.

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