Depomed’s New Shingle Drug (NASDAQ:DEPO)

On the very first day of the week, Depomed Inc has come out with good news that their new shingles pain drug has met the study goal. Depomed has announced that they have achieved success in the late stage clinical trial of a drug that will be used for the treatment of pain following viral infection shingles. The news of this success had a straight impact on Depomed’s shares and it went up immediately after the news was announced.

Earlier in the session Depomed stocks advanced around $1.35 which is around 30.6 percent, later it went up to $5.76 and finally the shares peaked up to $6.21 which is their highest price since June 2006. Approximately around 288,000 shares were traded on an average in one single day and more than 2 million shares changed hands quickly. The company announced that their new shingles pain drug named DM-1796 greatly reduces the post-shingles pain compare to the placebo after 10 weeks of treatment. The company has further announced that they are already having a word within the company and will soon plan to file Food and Drug Administration approval which would be around the end of March 2010.

Talking more about their new successful drug, Depomed said that this drug is an extended-release form of gabapentin which is normally used to treat pain disorders and epilepsy. The drug has to be taken only once a day while the other drugs similar to DM-1796 are required to be taken for around four to five times a day. Depomed also assured that there are fewer side effects as the amount of dosing is low. The most common side effects that were registered were dizziness and tiredness. Solvay Pharmaceuticals has bought the license for DM-1796 in the United States, Canada and Mexico which is now taken by Abbott Laboratories.