Anesiva's pain drug meets main goal; shares zoom

By Vidya L Nathan

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Anesiva Inc's (ANSV.O) experimental pain drug Adlea met the main goal of a late-stage trial, raising hopes that the tiny biopharmaceutical company may find a partner to further develop the drug and prompting a six-fold jump in its market value.

"Anesiva should be able to go out and say that this is a drug that works and they should be able to attract a development partner sometime next year," Zacks Investment analyst Jason Napodano said.

Adlea significantly reduced post-surgical pain in four to 48 hours in patients who underwent total knee-replacement surgery, compared with a dummy drug, in the late-stage trial.

The drug candidate also reduced the intake of opioid medication in patients, the company, whose market capitalization stood at about $2.9 million on Monday, said.

The drug candidate's success provides a break for Anesiva, whose market value has eroded by about $138 million since the start of the year.

In November, the company had withdrawn its pain drug Zingo from U.S. markets, citing manufacturing problems, and cut its workforce by 85 percent to 15 employees to preserve capital.

The latest trial data on Adlea could breathe new life into the struggling company, which has been looking for a partner for the pain drug.

Tuesday's announcement puts Anesiva back in the reckoning to find a partner, or license the drug. A partnership is necessary for the company to conduct an additional late-stage study to prove Adlea's efficacy, Zacks Investment's Napodano and Pacific Growth Equities analyst Liana Moussatos said.