French pharma multinational Sanofi's Dupixent drug has achieved impressive results in a late-stage trial to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), aka ‘smoker's lung’.
Developed jointly with US biotech group Regeneron, Dupixent caused a 30% reduction in moderate or severe acute exacerbations of COPD among a trial group of 939 current or former smokers.
The drug significantly reduced moderate-to-severe exacerbations by 30% compared to the placebo.
Sanofi and Regeneron shares jumped 4.5% and 7% respectively following the announcement.
Sanofi noted that its decision to go without earlier-stage clinical COPD trials had shaved years off the drug’s development time.
Regeneron’s chief scientific officer George Yancopoulos said: "COPD is an urgent global health concern and a notoriously difficult to treat disease due to its heterogeneity, with no novel treatments approved in more than a decade."
Both companies said that a second late-stage COPD Dupixent trial was ongoing, with results expected in the new year.
Dupixent is currently used to treat eczema, asthma and nasal polyps which result in chronic sinusitis.
Jefferies noted that COPD prescriptions could increase sales of Dupixent by €700mln, though that only represents around 3.5% of projected €20bn sales of the drug.