Benzinga | Jul 27, 2021 06:16AM EDT

Cerecor's Crohn's Disease Candidate Shows Encouraging Response In Pretreated Patients

* Cerecor Inc (NASDAQ:CERC) announced initial results from a Phase 1b proof-of-concept study evaluating CERC-002 in adult patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease (CD).

* CERC-002 is an investigational fully human anti-LIGHT (tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14)) monoclonal antibody.

* Data includes for a low-dose cohort of CERC-002 (1.0 mg/kg) in moderate to severe Crohn's disease patients who had previously failed three or more lines of biologic therapies, including anti-TNF alpha treatments.

* Following eight weeks of treatment, the first cohort (n=4) showed a mean reduction in LIGHT levels of approximately 80% compared to baseline signifying a rapid decrease in LIGHT levels correlating to the pharmacodynamic effect of CERC-002.

* A clinically meaningful endoscopic improvement in 75% (3/4) of subjects, as determined by colonoscopy (SES-CD score).

* Three subjects that demonstrated endoscopic healing have explored single-patient investigational new drug applications, and one subject relapsed post-treatment and required surgery.

* There were no treatment-emergent serious adverse events attributed to CERC-002.

* Cohort 2 (3.0 mg/kg dose) is fully enrolled, with complete data anticipated in 2H of 2021.

* Price Action: CERC shares are up 12.6% at $3.13 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.