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ASX Health Stocks: Actinogen surges 125 percent on antidepressant trial results

  • Actinogen doubled on positive Phase 2a results for Xanamem
  • Xanamem durability leads to Phase 2b Alzheimer's trial
  • PharmAust’s Monepantel showed promising ALS results

Actinogen doubles due to promising data from Phase 2a study

Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW)The share price of has more than doubled this morning after promising results from XanCIDD Phase 2a study.

The latest data show that ACW’s main drug, Xanamat a dose of 10 mg consistently contributed to the relief of depression symptoms across various endpoints.

This supports the conclusion that Xanamem effectively regulates cortisol levels in the brain and has an antidepressant effect.

The test results highlighted several important points.

The Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score, a common measure of depression severity, improved significantly with treatment with Xanamem, and these improvements were observed in five of six patient groups.

In addition, data on the Patient Global Impression of Severity (PGI-S), another measure of clinical functioning in depression, confirm the positive MADRS results.

The new analysis also showed that there was a 50% higher depression remission rate with Xanamem compared to placebo at week 10, suggesting that Xanamem has a durable therapeutic effect that lasts beyond the end of the six-week treatment period.

This durability is consistent with the effect of cortisol on brain biology and suggests that Xanamem may help manage stress in the brain in the long term.

“The depression data are incredibly good news for Actinogen and for the many patients who may benefit from Xanamem in the future,” said Dr. Steven Gourlay, CEO of Actinogen.

“The antidepressant market is highly competitive, but Xanamem stands out from the competition with its safety profile and the durability of its benefits is intriguing.”

Actinogen will now focus on recruiting participants for the Phase 2b XanaMIA study, which will investigate the potential of Xanamem to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease over a 36-week period.

Interim results of this study are expected in mid-2025.

PharmAust’s Monepantel shows strong ALS results

PharmAust (ASX:PAA) has published promising interim results from the ongoing open-label extension (OLE) study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using its drug monepantel (MPL).

The study showed that MPL remains well tolerated when administered daily at 10 mg/kg, effectively slowing disease progression while improving survival rates.

Compared with untreated ALS patients from a historical database, patients with MPL had significantly longer survival, an 80.3% reduced risk of death, and a 43.2% slower rate of functional decline.

Crucially, 56% of patients showed no loss of function at all.

Some patients have been taking MPL for up to 23 months and the continued positive results are encouraging for the upcoming Phase 2/3 trial of the HEALEY ALS platform study, which is expected to begin enrolling participants in the next quarter.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. Although PharmAust is an advertiser of Stockhead, it did not sponsor this article.

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