CervoMed Inc. saw its stock rise by 9% in premarket trading on Wednesday after sharing new promising results from its Phase 2b clinical trial. The company is developing a drug to treat dementia with Lewy bodies, a serious brain disorder that affects memory, movement, and thinking.
The trial, called RewinD-LB, tested CervoMed’s drug candidate named neflamapimod. The new data showed that people who took this drug had clear improvements in their thinking and memory skills compared to those who took a placebo. The results were especially strong for patients who were less likely to also have Alzheimer’s disease.
One part of the study looked at patients who switched from a placebo to the company’s new and improved version of the drug. These patients showed much better scores on a scale that measures dementia severity, improving by about 1.12 points compared to their earlier placebo period.
The study also found that neflamapimod cut levels of a protein in the blood called GFAP by around 50%. This protein is linked to brain cell damage, so lowering it suggests the drug might help slow or reduce brain deterioration. Importantly, the patients who had lower GFAP levels also showed better mental performance.
CervoMed’s CEO, Dr. John Alam, said these new findings give the company even more confidence that their drug could truly help people living with dementia with Lewy bodies.
The study also revealed that patients on neflamapimod had a 67% lower risk of their disease getting worse over a 32-week period.
CervoMed now plans to move forward with a larger Phase 3 trial and is waiting for the FDA’s feedback on its design later this quarter. The new results are expected to help fine-tune the next stage of testing.
