Siga's mpox drug did not improve lesion resolution or pain, NIH study finds (updated)

SIGA Technologies

10/12/2024 21:03

(Adds shares in paragraph 2, details on disease in paragraph 5
and 9, details on trial findings in paragraphs 6-8)
       Dec 10 (Reuters) - Siga Technologies'  SIGA.O  antiviral
drug did not reduce the time to lesion resolution or have an
effect on pain among adults affected by the clade II strain of
mpox, according to a U.S. National Institutes of Health study
published on Tuesday.
    A data safety and monitoring board recommended stopping
further enrollment of patients in the study based on the interim
results. Shares of the company closed 6.7% lower at $6.47.
    The trial, sponsored by NIH's National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), began in September 2022 as part
of the government's response to the clade II mpox outbreak.
    It enrolled patients who had been ill with mpox for less
than 14 days in Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Thailand
and the United States, including Puerto Rico. 
    Mpox is caused by a virus that spreads mainly through close
contact. A clade II subtype virus caused a global mpox outbreak
in 2022 and continues to circulate at low levels. 
    A planned interim analysis at 75% of the study's target
enrollment showed there was no difference in the time to lesion
resolution among participants treated with Siga's drug
tecovirimat, branded as TPOXX, compared with those who received
a placebo.
    The analysis also showed pain decreased similarly among
patients treated with tecovirimat and those who received a
placebo.
    This year, an outbreak of the clade I strain of mpox was
declared a public health emergency of international concern by
the World Health Organization. 

 (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))