Tiziana Life Sciences Ltd (NASDAQ:TLSA) shares rose 8% to $0.86 in midday trading on Monday after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company revealed six-month data that showed positive clinical improvements related to Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) scores and similar important clinical measures of physical function in foralumab-treated, non-active Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (na-SPMS) patients participating in an Expanded Access (EA) Program.
Tiziana noted that numeric improvements were seen across key multiple sclerosis measures, including the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Expanded Disability Status Scale, Timed 25-Foot Walk test, Pyramidal Scores and NeuroQoL Fatigue scores.
"This is very, very exciting … we saw four out of six patients in our EA program have a reduction in their fatigue and this is a very important signal we’re seeing right now and we’re hoping to replicate this signal and what we saw with our PET scans in our (upcoming) Phase 2A trial," Tiziana Life Sciences chief medical officer and chief operating officer (COO) Matthew Davis said in a recent interview with Proactive.
Davis emphasized the fatigue experienced by multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is debilitating, not like fatigue experienced by healthy individuals, and "robs” the patients of their ability to lead their normal and best lives.
On Friday, the company announced that a reduction in activated microglia, as seen in six-month Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans, had been observed in a total of five of the six patients with non-active secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (na-SPMS) treated with intranasal foralumab.
It added that activated microglia are believed to play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, including MS.
Shares of Tiziana have surged more than 27% over the past five trading sessions and have gained 48% year to date.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com