Shares of the BELLUS Health Inc. (BLU) stock were soaring in the current market trading session on December 13, 2021. BLU stock price saw a push of 61% to reach $9.06 a share at the time of this writing. The stock was declining in the previous trade and went down by 1.23% at closing. Let’s dig in to understand the reason for the current bullish sentiment.
What’s Happening?
The sentiment became bullish for the BLU stock after it announced the data from its Phase 2b SOOTHE Trial of BLU-5937. The study team in the trial observed the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of 50 mg and 200 mg BID doses of BLU-5937. The BLU-5937 is intended for the treatment of patients suffering from Refractory chronic cough. According to the results, the doses mentioned above achieved statistically significant results. The primary endpoint was a 34% placebo-adjusted reduction in 24-hour cough frequency observed (p ≤ 0.005) at day 28. BLU-5937 showed well tolerance however, minor taste-related adverse events happened at all doses.
249 patients participated in the SOOTHE trial with a baseline awake cough frequency of ≥ 25 per hour. 50 mg and 200 mg BID dose levels resulted 34% reduction in cough frequency in 24 hours. The 12.5 mg BID dose resulted 21% reduction in the cough frequency in the 24 hours period. The safety and tolerability data were consistent with the previous trials.
What’s next for BLU stock?
After achieving positive results from Phase 2B SOOTHE Trial, BLU stock is anticipating the Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. This meeting is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2022.BLU sock will discuss the Phase 3 program with the FDA which it expects to initiate in the second half of 2022.
Financial View of BLU stock:
On November 11, 2021, BLU stock announced third quarter 2021 financial results according to which
- BLU stock suffered a net loss of US$22.9 million in the third quarter of 2021. This compares to US$5.7 million in the same tenure of the previous year.
- The company spent US$19.1 million in research and development expenses in the recently reported quarter. In the same quarter of last year, the company spent US$5.8 million on R&D expenses.
- The general and administrative expenses of the BLU stock were US$3.8 million in Q3,2021 as compared to US$0.5 million in Q3,2020.
- The company ended the quarter with US$58.4 million available cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.
Wrap Up:
Things are going well for BLU stock as far as market sentiment is concerned. The progress in terms of per-share price is satisfactory as this stock gained approximately 82% year to date.
