The Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) share price was in reverse today after surging more than 11% on Monday. The allogeneic cellular medicines company announced a trial update to its rexlemestrocel-L drug.
At the closing bell, Mesoblast shares finished the day down 8.68% to $1.735.
Why are Mesoblast shares falling?
Investors appeared to be taking profit off the table, sending the Mesoblast share price lower.
Following yesterday's astronomical gains, trading volumes rocketed to levels not seen since early September.
The company provided results from its phase 3 trial of rexlemestrocel-l in 565 patients suffering from chronic heart failure.
Presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions, Mesoblast highlighted a key takeaway from the landmark study. This related to the significant relationship between the presence of systemic inflammation and the treatment benefit with rexlemestrocel-L.
In particular, a single dose of rexlemestrocel-L, along with standard of care, reduced the incidence of heart attacks or strokes by 65% across all patients. This figure is compared against standard of care alone.
In addition, the same dosage of rexlemestrocel-L with standard of care diminished the incidence of cardiovascular death, heart attacks, or strokes by 33%.
How does rexlemestrocel-L work?
Rexlemestrocel-L reduces inflammatory cytokine production by immune cells, generating improved local networks of blood vessels within the damaged heart. In turn, this lowers the risk of plaque rupture in major arteries.
Heart failure affects around 6.5 million people in the United States and 26 million people globally, with rates increasing every year. The mortality rate approaches 50% at 5 years as patients progress beyond New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II disease.
Mesoblast share price summary
In the past 12 months, Mesoblast shares have disappointed investor expectations, failing to take off. The company's share price is down by almost 50% since this time last year, and down almost 23% year-to-date.
It's worth noting that Mesoblast shares are a long way off their 52-week high of $5.05.
Based on today's price, Mesoblast presides a market capitalisation of around $1.13 billion, with approximately 648.7 million shares outstanding.
