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- MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) says interim results from its phase two clinical trial of ArtemiC demonstrated significant improvements
- ArtemiC is an anti-inflammatory treatment which aims to stop COVID-19 patients from requiring hospitalisation by treating symptoms
- In a significant development, MGC said ArtemiC met all of the primary objectives and delivered the FDA’s goal of sustained clinical recovery
- The company will now begin planning a Phase IIb trial of the treatment, while it awaits the full results from the current trial
- Shares in MGC have jumped up since the announcement, trading 15.4 per cent in the green for three cents each
MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) says the most recent clinical trial of its COVID-19 treatment has returned positive interim results.
Specifically, the phase two clinical trial for ArtemiC met all its primary goals in terms of being effective and safe for human use.
It also met the U.S. Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) goal of sustained clinical recovery — meaning patients recovered and didn’t need hospital care or ventilation.
A key goal of the drug body isn’t just to find a vaccine for coronavirus, but effective treatments to lessen the severity of the virus symptoms.
Phase two trial
The interim results announced today relate to the first 10 patients recruited to the ongoing trial, with an additional 19 patients still being tested.
MGC hopes to test 50 people in total, at its sites in Hillel Yaffe Hospital and Nazareth Hospital EMMS.
Source: MGC Pharmaceutical
The testing itself consists of a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, meaning patients are either given real or placebo treatments.
MGC found those given ArtemiC — an anti-inflammatory treatment which aims to treat COVID-19 symptoms — showed clinical improvement and recorded no pain.
Phase three?
The interim results from the phase two trial are consistent with the in-vivo and in-vitro results previously undertaken by the company.
These results showed ArtemiC helped reduce the excessive inflammatory response in COVID-19 patients, known as cytokine storm.
MGC said all of these results mean the next study was also likely to return strong results showing the drug is effective in treating the symptoms of COVID-19.
The company will now commence designing its next trial — the Phase IIb clinical trial. It’s hoped the current trial will wrap up in the next two months, with the next trial to possibly begin in December 2020.
“We are very pleased with the phase two interim results of ArtemiC which have so far met all primary endpoints while also demonstrating safety of the treatment on the initial 10 patients,” MGC Pharma Co-founder & Managing Director Roby Zomer said.
“These results combined with our recent preclinical results are important for designing the protocols and markers for our next Phase IIb clinical trial. We look forward to updating the market as we continue to receive results of this trial,” he added.
Shares in MGC Pharmaceutical are trading up following today’s positive interim results. Shares are currently worth three cents each, up 15.4 per cent.
