Oramed Pharmaceuticals (TASE: ORMP; Nasdaq: ORMP), headed by Nadav Kidron, reported today that a Phase 3 trial of a treatment for diabetes with an orally administered insulin pill had failed to meet its primary endpoint. Oramed’s share price plunged 77.1% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange today, and is currently down 76.55% on Nasdaq, at $2.53, which gives the company a market cap of $98.4 million.
Oramed developed unique technology for administering diabetes treatments orally instead of by injection, and the orally administered insulin that was the subject of the trial is its lead product. It has no products on the market yet. The trial was designed to demonstrate that the company’s insulin pill contributed to control of sugar levels in the long term, but no statistically significant difference was found between the group that took the pill and the control group.
Oramed did not attempt to gloss over the result of the trial, and said that it would discontinue its oral insulin clinical activities for Type 2 diabetes.
"Today's outcome is very disappointing, given the positive results from prior trials. Once full data from the studies are available, we expect to share relevant learnings and future plans. We thank all the patients, families and healthcare professionals who participated in the trial," Kidron said.
Oramed has other products in its pipeline, among them an orally administered vaccine for Covid-19 that is at the start of clinical trials, and a product for treating liver disease caused by a build up of fat in the liver. The negative result of the current trial, however, is liable to affect investors’ confidence in the company’s Protein Oral Delivery technological platform.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 12, 2023.
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