Kintor plummets after unsatisfactory interim analysis on COVID-19 pill trial (updated)

Kintor Pharmaceutical

28/12/2021 05:27

(Rewrite to add details from conference call, share price drop)
    BEIJING, Dec 28 (Reuters) - China's Kintor faced a temporary
setback as interim analysis for a late-stage trial for its
potential COVID-19 pill did not yield sufficient data due to the
lack of hospitalised cases, sending its shares crashing as much
as 85% on Tuesday morning.
    In a trial designed to study how well Kintor Pharmaceutical
Inc's  9939.HK  proxalutamide tablet could cut hospitalisation
for outpatients, which had recruited more than 300 people, less
than 10 people with initially mild or moderate illness were
hospitalised by the time of interim analysis, Kintor chairman
Tong Youzhi said on a call with investors on Tuesday.
    The potential reason for the lack of hospitalisation so far
in the trial included the expansion of vaccination drive in the
United States and the relatively young age of participants,
which averaged 38 years, Tong said.
    This is not yet a failure of the drug, but a reading that
cannot draw a statistically significant conclusion for now,
leaving the company unable to deliver a result on the drug's
efficacy in reducing hospitalisation, a Kintor spokesperson said
late on Monday. 
    Kintor's stock plunged to as low as HK$6.91 on Tuesday
morning, the lowest since the company listed its shares in May
2020.
    "One of the issues caused by the unsatisfactory interim
analysis could be the delay in the company's business plan,"
Tong said, but added that Kintor will continue to push forward
the existing trials. 
    Kintor said in a filing on Monday that it will seek consent
from authorities including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to amend clinical protocol and continue to enroll patients of
higher risk, such as those who have not received a COVID-19
vaccination.
    The company is also testing proxalutamide in already
hospitalised COVID patients, and developing other potential
treatments for diseases including cancers and hair loss.
        

 (Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by
Donny Kwok, Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Louise Heavens and
Michael Perry)
 ((meg.shen@thomsonreuters.com; 852-39525805;))