Avanir surges on AD agitation data

Investors added $1 billion in market cap to Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNR) on Monday after the company's AVP-923 dextromethorphan/quinidine met the primary endpoint vs. placebo of reducing agitation in a Phase II trial to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

In a 220-patient study, 30/10 mg oral dextromethorphan/quinidine twice daily reduced scores on the agitation/aggression subscale of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) after 10 weeks (p=0.00008). There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for the indication. ...