Synairgen no wheeze as asthma drug trial boosts shares

Southampton based research firm, Synairgen, has rocketed in morning trading after announcing results for a treatment which could protect asthmatics from respiratory virus infections.

The drug, called SNG001, stops infections like the common cold spreading to patients' lungs, which is often the cause of hospital admissions for asthma sufferers.

The study investigated SNG001 in a population of 134 adult asthma patients, representing 'mild-moderate' through to 'severe' asthmatics, who caught a cold.

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Patients with 'difficult to treat' asthma, being approximately half of the patients in the trial, benefitted significantly from SNG001 treatment. This category of patient is estimated to represent between 10% and 20% of all adult asthma sufferers.

Professor Stephen Holgate, the founder of Synairgen, said: "This is the first clinical study which appears to demonstrate that, by boosting the antiviral defences of the lungs of asthmatics...we can...prevent worsening of asthma symptoms in a high risk group of patients."

He'll certainly have been breathing easily after looking at his firm's share price this morning, the stock had gained 27.6% by 10:59.

BS