MediciNova Reports Mixed Results in 40-Patient MN-001 Trial

MediciNova said its experimental drug MN-001 produced significant increases in HDL cholesterol and HDL particle concentration in a 40-patient Phase 2 trial. The company also reported a statistically significant triglyceride reduction at Week 4, but not at Week 24.

The 24-week, placebo-controlled study tested MN-001 in people with type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. At Week 4, average triglycerides fell 54.7 mg/dL in the drug group and 23.8 mg/dL with placebo. The difference was statistically significant, the company said.

At Week 24, HDL cholesterol rose by an average of 3.3 mg/dL in the MN-001 group and declined by 2.4 mg/dL with placebo. HDL particle concentration also increased with the drug and decreased with placebo; both differences were statistically significant.

The Week 24 triglyceride decrease was greater with MN-001, but the difference versus placebo was not statistically significant. Liver-fat and body-weight measures showed numerical improvements, which also did not reach statistical significance.

MediciNova described the study as exploratory and said the results should be evaluated in a larger trial. It plans to analyze the data further and assess the next stage of development, including the patient group, endpoints and study size. The company said the drug was generally well tolerated, with no drug-related serious adverse events reported.