Mereo BioPharma's Alvelestat Shows Improvement In COVID-19 Severity

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Mereo BioPharma Group plc MREO announced topline data from a Phase 1b/2 trial of alvelestat in hospitalized COVID-19 Respiratory Disease patients.

• Consistent with the known safety profile of alvelestat, no safety signals were observed in lab safety monitoring, including none in liver, renal and vital sign parameters.
• Treatment-emergent headaches were more frequent in the alvelestat arm than placebo. 
• In the alvelestat arm, 62.5% of patients had a 2-point decrease in the WHO Disease Severity score by Day 5, compared to 28.5% patients in the placebo arm. 
• On Day 7, the improvement in WHO Severity score increased to 87.5% in the alvelestat arm and 57% in the placebo arm.
• A more significant reduction in C-reactive Protein was observed in alvelestat compared to placebo (p=0.143).
• In addition, there was a reduction in D-Dimer in the alvelestat arm compared to the placebo arm, which increased over the treatment period (p=0.199). 
• Price Action: MREO shares are trading at $1.65 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.