Anacor Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Results In Late-Stage Clinical Trials For Eczema

Shares of Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC) soared today, closing at $131.93 per share, up 55%, after announcing positive phase 3 results in two clinical trials with patients who have atopic dermatitis -- also known as Eczema. Anacor ran two phase 3 trial to determine if its drug Crisaborole would be able to reduce inflammation of the skin. 

Crisaborole is a topical anti-inflammatory ointment designed to attempt to reduce inflammation in patient with Eczema. Eczema occurs when there is a severe inflammation of the skin that causes an itchy red-rash on the skin. It is estimated that there are about 18 million to 25 million people in the U.S. with Eczema. Eczema occurs in both adults and children and can possibly spread to other parts of the body over time. 

Each of the phase 3 studies recruited up to 750 patients with Eczema. Both studies met on both the primary and secondary endpoints concluding that patients that took Crisaborole were able to reduce the inflammation of their skin due to Eczema. The primary and secondary endpoints looked at how well the Eczema was cleared when patients were treated with Crisaborole. 

In both the primary and secondary endpoints Crisaborole was able to achieve a better percentage of patients who cleared or almost cleared their Eczema as compared to the placebo compound. Anacor now states that it will file a New Drug Application -- NDA -- to the FDA in the first half of 2016.