new treatment for covid-19 ?

The share price in the drug company Synairgen surged over 400% after it announced positive results on a recent clinical trial relating to a new treatment for Covid-19. The company specialising in therapies for asthma and COPD has been listed on the FTSE AIM All-Share index since 2004. Today’s share price surge took it skyrocketing past its IPO high of £1.64 a share. Is it now too late to buy shares in this exciting biotech company?

The clinical trial moving the Synairgen share price was based on its SGN001 therapy. This is a treatment designed to reduce the most serious aspects of Covid-19 in hospitalised patients. It involves the use of a protein called interferon beta that is naturally found in the body but suppressed by the coronavirus.

By inhaling this protein, the patient experiences relief and a reduction in breathlessness. The clinical trial resulted in a 79% reduction in patients developing severe disease requiring ventilation. It also showed patients were 2 to 3 times more likely to make a much better recovery. It should be noted these results have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal and further analysis will be needed.

When dealing with pharmaceutical treatments there are many regulatory hoops to jump through. But with the Covid-19 pandemic, everyone is eager for anything that will help bring it under control. For this reason, I don’t think it is necessarily too late to buy shares in Synairgen. Certainly, those shareholders that got in early on a speculative buy will be feeling very pleased that they did so.