Why the Bionomics share price is up 40% today

The Bionomics Ltd (ASX: BNO) share price shot up 41% today after the biotechnology researcher announced its PTSD drug labelled BNC210 had delivered positive results from a clinical trial. In five healthy male volunteers it was found that the drug achieved the “blood levels predicted as necessary to meet the primary endpoints for effectiveness for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients in future clinical trials.”

While a 41% gain might sound impressive it’s worth noting the penny stock is only 2.4 cents higher to 8.2 cents on volume around 51.3 million shares traded. In other words only around $4.5 million worth of stock has been traded. 

Earlier in September the company also announced it had met with the US healthcare regulator the FDA to discuss how to design a potential Phase II trial for the PTSD drug. It also boasted that it had applied for a ‘fast track’ designation status for the application. 

It’s worth noting Phase II trials themselves are generally quite early stage and partly to just demonstrate safety ahead of what is nearly always the largest and most expensive Phase III trial designed to actually test the clinical efficacy of a drug. 

As such it seems Bionomics has a long road ahead of it yet and I would not suggest buying shares. 

Other speccy biotechs maybe worth some more research include Paradigm Ltd (ASX: PAR) and Next Science Limited (ASX: NXS).