Dallas, Texas 10/18/2013 (Financialstrend) – Development stage generic drug manufacturer Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) has a market capitalization of $109 million. On October 15 the drug maker announced that it has got a go ahead from a standalone independent data monitoring committee which had oversight over the results on the phase 3 clinical trial of its target drug Firdapse. Catalyst has been involved in designing and testing the effectiveness of this drug for treating “Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS)”. The monitoring committee has given Catalyst the go ahead to continue the next phase of the trial as planned.
The monitoring committee had been put together to review data that has been gathered as part of the clinical trial. The committee is made up of experts who will review the data with respect to safety and effectiveness of the data provided in context of the potential cure of LEMS.
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) had designed the Phase 3 trial for Firdapse in the form of randomized trial. It involves administering 36 patients who are suffering from LEMS. The clinic trial was conducted at sites specific to U.S. and Europe. At the time of commencement of the test, Catalyst hopes to have patients across 19 different sites ready to participate. The target date for completing the enrolment has been set for December 2013. The data collected from the test is expected to be announced by June 2014.
In an unlikely response to the announcement, the stock of this drug maker lost close to 0.76% of its market value during trading on October 16. As of close of business on October 16, the share price had settled at $2.64 per share indicating a 608% increase over its 52 week low pricing. The drop in pricing yesterday was a continuation of the lack of investor confidence in the stock from last week.