Is Vital Therapies worth $430 million?
Vital Therapies, a tiny biotech with some pumps and plastic tubes meant to treat liver failure, is up about 70 percent since June on speculation that its oft-failed product can come through in late-stage do-over trial. And that, writes STAT's Adam Feuerstein, might be reason for alarm.
Vital's treatment, called ELAD, failed in a 2015 trial, proving no better than placebo at prolonging survival and raising concerns about the product's safety. Instead of abandoning the idea, Vital dug into the negative data and concluded that ELAD failed because enrolled patients were too sick and too old to benefit.
So now the company is trying again in a different patient population, and investors seem optimistic. Vital's recent run-up gives it a market value of nearly $430 million, despite all the caveats brought on by ELAD's previous failure.
Read more.
Vital's treatment, called ELAD, failed in a 2015 trial, proving no better than placebo at prolonging survival and raising concerns about the product's safety. Instead of abandoning the idea, Vital dug into the negative data and concluded that ELAD failed because enrolled patients were too sick and too old to benefit.
So now the company is trying again in a different patient population, and investors seem optimistic. Vital's recent run-up gives it a market value of nearly $430 million, despite all the caveats brought on by ELAD's previous failure.
Read more.
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