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- Mesoblast (MSB) advises its agreement with Novartis to develop a COVID-19 treatment has been terminated early
- The two companies entered into a deal back in 2020 to commercialise MSB’s remestemcel-L for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from COVID-19
- MSB didn’t say why the agreement was terminated, instead the business advised it will continue pushing for remestemcel-L to be designated emergency use authorisation
- Mesoblast missed the primary endpoint in recent trials of the treatment, but the observed mortality reduction was sufficient enough for it to push ahead with another trial
- Shareholders can’t react to the Novartis trial termination just yet, as shares in Mesoblast have been placed in a trading halt, last trading at $1.70 each
Mesoblast (MSB) advises its agreement with Novartis to develop a COVID-19 treatment has been terminated early.
The two companies entered into a deal back in 2020 to commercialise MSB’s remestemcel-L for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from COVID-19.
MSB hasn’t stated why the agreement with Novartis was terminated, with the Swiss based business having handed over US$50 million (A$70.13 million) to the ASX-lister.
Instead, Mesoblast advised it would continue pushing for remestemcel-L to be granted an emergency use authorisation (EUA) — a direct path to market.
The treatment missed the primary endpoint in recent trials, but the observed mortality reduction was sufficient enough for MSB to push ahead with a third trial.
The healthcare stock believes COVID-19, and associated ARDS, will continue to be a global issue for some years, despite the number of vaccines available.
Mesoblast will now focus on initiating a Phase 3 trial of remestemcel-L that may support an EUA.
Shareholders haven’t been able to react to the Novartis trial termination just yet, as shares in Mesoblast have been placed in a trading halt.
MSB shares last traded at $1.70 each.
