AC Immune Jumps 16.3% on Partial Success in Alzheimer’s Drug Trial

Shares of AC Immune (ACIU) rallied 16.3% on Tuesday to close at $8.13 after the biopharma company announced partial success in its Phase 2 trial of Alzheimer’s treatment.

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The drug, which is developed in partnership with Roche Holding (RHHBY), was successful in meeting one of the co-primary endpoints, ADAS-Cog11. Anti-tau monoclonal antibody, semorinemab, helped in reducing cognitive decline from baseline by 43.6%, compared to placebo, in people diagnosed with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

However, AC Immune’s trials failed to show success in reducing the rate of functional decline from baseline as measured by the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL).

AC Immune also said there were no safety-related issues with the treatment and the drug was well tolerated. (See AC Immune stock charts on TipRanks)

The CEO of AC Immune, Prof. Andrea Pfeifer, said, “The top line results of the Lauriet Phase 2 clinical trial of semorinemab are remarkable in that it is the first time we have seen a therapeutic effect by a monoclonal anti-Tau antibody therapy. We also are excited by the fact that this is the first time a monoclonal antibody has had a therapeutic impact on cognition in the mild-to-moderate AD patient population.”

Pfeifer found the trial period of 49 weeks to be relatively short for a slow-moving disease like Alzheimer’s and said that the data from open-label extension may provide more information.

Following the announcement, H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein maintained a Buy rating on AC Immune with a price target of $16 (upside potential of 96.8% from current level).

Fein found the news to be quite striking based on the competitive landscape of AD drug development. He said, “To see a significant difference in the ADAS-Cog11 in mild-to-moderate patients where the rate of decline might not be very high is impressive, and speaks to the MOA of the antibody, in our view.”

“However, we note that the second co-primary endpoint, ADCS-ADL, was not met along with other secondary endpoints such as MMSE and CDR-SB, which we believe might relate to the length of the trial,” Fein added.

The stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 2 Buys. The average AC Immune price target of $16 implies upside potential of 96.8%.

TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that investors currently have a Very Positive stance on AC Immune with 4.8% of investors on TipRanks increasing their exposure to ACIU stock over the past 30 days.