The Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) share price rocketed on news that the company's drug, rexlemestrocel-L, is showing promising signs.
The Mesoblast share price closed today's trade 14.29% higher at $2.56 per share. Notably, today is the highest its shares have been since the failure of remestemcel-L in treating COVID-19 patients was announced in late December.
Why is the Mesoblast share price soaring?
Mesoblast announced that a single dose of its drug rexlemestrocel-L provides a reduction in heart attacks, strokes and cardiac death in patients with chronic heart failure.
The results come from its landmark, randomised controlled phase 3 trial with 537 patients. Of the patients, who all had chronic heart failure, some received rexlemestrocel-L and others received a control sham. The study found that a single dose of the drug resulted in a substantial and durable reduction in heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac deaths. The patients were monitored for 30 months after the dose was administered.
Since the existing therapies have very minimal benefit on these same endpoints, Mesoblast claims that these results may signal a breakthrough in addressing certain unmet needs with patients who have chronic heart failure.
Heart attacks and strokes were reduced by 60% from a single dose, while incidence of death from rexlemestrocel-L was also reduced by the same amount. Across the board the drug reduced all 3 outcomes of death by 30%.
This comes as a sharp turnaround from the news Mesoblast released on 15 December that there was no reduction in the recurrent non-fatal decompensated heart failure events from the drug, which caused its share price to fall by 15%.
Chronic heart failure affects 6.5 million people in the US and 26 million globally, with those numbers increasing in prevalence and incidence every year.
About the Mesoblast share price
The Mesoblast share price was particularly volatile in 2020, rising as high as $5.70 and dropping as low as $1.02. Nonetheless the recent news has pushed shares in the company higher, resulting in a 1-year return of 11.79%.
