The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price is bouncing back today from a heavy decline on Tuesday.
In morning trade the biotech company's shares are up 5.5% to $3.30.
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Why is the Mesoblast share price jumping higher?
Investors have been buying the company's shares after the release of a promising announcement this morning.
That announcement reveals that the company has achieved positive feedback from its randomised controlled Phase 3 trial of remestemcel-L in patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19 infection.
According to the release, Mesoblast has received a recommendation to continue from the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) following completion of the trial's second interim analysis.
That analysis was performed on the trial's first 135 patients, which represents 45% of the total target of up to 300 randomised patients.
The DSMB is recommending the continuation of the trial after reviewing the trial's primary endpoint, all-cause mortality within 30 days of randomisation and all safety data.
Complementary to a COVID-19 vaccine.
Mesoblast's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Fred Grossman, was very pleased with the DSMB's recommendation and sees room in the market for the treatment even if a successful vaccine is developed.
He said: "We are very pleased with the recommendation by the DSMB, as we seek to confirm whether remestemcel-L improves survival in ventilated COVID-19 patients with moderate to severe ARDS. Patients who have co-morbidities or are older are likely to continue to be at high risk of ARDS and death, even if COVID-19 vaccines become available. This is why having a potential treatment that reduces mortality in these patients is so important."
"ARDS is the principal cause of death in COVID-19 infection and is thought to be due to a dysregulated immune response in the lungs to COVID-19. Deaths continue to increase in ventilator-dependent ARDS patients as COVID-19 cases continue to surge globally. Despite improved treatment and earlier intervention in hospitalized COVID-19 patients overall, the mortality rate in COVID-19 ARDS patients who are over 60 years old remains more than 60%," he added.
