Bioxell SpA's (BXLN.EB) share price Friday spiked 7.8% after the Italian biopharmaceutical company's prostate treatment Elocalcitol met its primary endpoint of arresting prostate growth in Phase-IIb trials. Analyst Rodolphe Besserve of SocGen said the safety profile of the drug looks good and, with the first signs it's treating symptoms of the disease, he expects Phase-III trials to begin early next year, going through 2010. This could mean the drug would hit the market in 2011. Besserve forecasts a peak sales potential of EUR500 million, and rates the shares at buy, with a CHF56 price target. Elocalcitol is aimed at treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, a swelling of the prostate that causes urinary tract problems. The problem affects more than 50% of men over the age of 60 and about 90% of men over the age of 70. BioXell is Milan-based, but its shares are listed in Switzerland. At 0828 GMT, BioXell shares were up 7.8% or CHF3.5 at CHF48 in a broadly lower Zurich market.
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