Corixa shares hit by negative view of trial

Corixa of the USA saw its shares slide by around 22% to a 52-week low of$19.44 on February 15 after reporting the results of a clinical trial of PVAC, its therapeutic vaccine for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, which it is developing in collaboration with New Zealand biotechnology firm Genesis Research & Development. Genesis' shares also tumbled 12% on the news. PVAC is licensed to Medicis Pharmaceutical in North America and Zenyaku Kogyo in Japan.

Preliminary data from a US trial, involving 241 patients with psoriasis who were randomized to receive one of three doses of PVAC or placebo, found no significant difference between the vaccine and control groups. However, a clinical effect was observed in patients who had not been exposed to treatment with immunosuppressive drugs and who received the middle (15mcg) dose of the vaccine. Both Corixa and Genesis insist they will continue to develop PVAC, with another trial looking at the 15mcg dose planned.

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