Almirall dips on aclidinium data
Almirall S.A. (Madrid:ALM) fell EUR 1.20 (15%) to EUR 6.80 on Friday after it and partner Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:FRX) reported data from the Phase III ACCORD COPD II trial of aclidinium bromide to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The partners said the magnitude of effect for the expected therapeutic dose of 400 ug aclidinium was less than that observed in three previous studies of the compound, including the similar Phase III ACCORD COPD I trial. However, both 200 and 400 ug twice-daily aclidinium did meet the primary endpoint of significantly improving morning trough forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) from baseline to week 12 vs. placebo (p=0.019 and p=0.001, respectively). The 400 ug dose produced a 72 mL improvement in FEV1 compared to placebo. The double-blind, North American trial enrolled 544 patients. ...