OSLO (Reuters) – Shares of Norwegian pharmaceutical company BerGenBio rose nearly 160% on Wednesday after news that a drug it is developing has been selected for a British trial of potential COVID-19 treatments.
The purpose of the trial is both to save lives and get an early indication of the drug’s effectiveness in treating the most vulnerable COVID-19 patients, the company said.
“Bemcentinib has been selected as the first potential treatment to be fast-tracked in a new UK national multi-centre randomised Phase II clinical trial initiative,” BerGenBio said in a statement.
The study will immediately commence in a test of 120 hospitalised patients, of which half will receive the drug and the other half will receive standard treatment.
The shares were up 158% in early trade to 54 Norwegian crowns ($5.20).
At 0724 GMT they were trading at 41.25 crowns, up 99% from Tuesday’s close of 20.95 crowns.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)
