Jasper Therapeutics, a biotech looking to make stem cell transplants less taxing and to treat immune-mediated diseases, reported on Monday that its experimental drug helped patients with a chronic skin condition in an initial and closely watched clinical trial.
In the Phase 1/2 study, dubbed Spotlight, 14 of 15 patients given an injection of the drug, briquilimab, showed improvements in symptoms of chronic inducible urticaria, a disease defined by red, itchy welts. Among patients given a 120-mg dose, 10 of 12 had a complete response to treatment. The drug was also safe and well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported.
Those results come from a preliminary analysis of the ongoing trial six weeks after patients were first treated. Based on the findings, Jasper now plans to enroll another dozen patients and treat them with 180 mg of drug to see if a higher dose is more effective.
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