Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its drug ganaxolone eliminated the need for intravenous anesthetics for 24 hours in patients with potentially life-threatening seizure activity during a mid-stage study.
The Radnor, Pa.-based pharmaceuticals company was studying three different doses of the drug to treat patients with refractory status epilepticus during the phase 2 trial. Refractory status epilepticus is continuous seizure activity or two seizures without full recovery of consciousness in between for a total of more than 30 minutes despite treatment with benzodiazepine and antiepileptic drugs.
Ganaxolone met the main goal of the study by preventing the need for intravenous anesthetics in the first 24 hours after the treatment was started.
Marinus expects an end-of-phase-2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first quarter of 2020 to discuss the next steps for a phase 3 study. Additionally, the company plans to evaluate a ready to use formulation of the drug in a few more patients and will include the data in the meeting.
Marinus' stock price was up 15.3% to $1.58 as of 1:31 p.m. ET on Sept. 26.
