Shares in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRCA) Wednesday. The West Chester, Pa.-based concern, a dermatology therapeutics company developing medications for skin diseases requiring medical interventions, today announced preliminary positive results from Part 2 of its Phase 2 clinical trial studying VP-315, a potential first-in-class oncolytic peptide, for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma.
Said CEO Ted White, “We believe the positive results from Part 2 of the Phase 2 study for VP-315 are a meaningful step forward in potentially providing basal cell carcinoma patients with additional treatment options,”. “We are encouraged by our preliminary results, which we believe support the use of VP-315 as a first line therapy for use in both a primary and neoadjuvant setting. We believe VP-315 has the potential to be a multi-billion dollar commercial opportunity for Verrica.”
“Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and current therapies have drawbacks, including systemic side-effects,” said Dr. Gary Goldenberg, Verrica’s Chief Medical Officer. “The preliminary results from Part 2 of the trial show greater than 50% complete histological clearance and a significant reduction in tumor size for tumors treated in the study, which we believe has the potential to vastly improve patient outcomes versus current therapies and surgical procedures. In addition, given the immunomodulatory properties of VP-315, we are also excited to continue to explore these properties in tissue and blood samples.”
VRCA shares fell $1.16, or 22.1%, to $4.10.
