MediciNova CEO Yuichi Iwaki Provides Corporate Update in Letter to Stockholders

In This Article:

MediciNova, Inc.
MediciNova, Inc.

NIH-funded Phase 2-3 ALS Expanded Access study expands reach of MediciNova’s ongoing COMBAT-ALS trial and provides illustration of Company’s development strategy

LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (Nasdaq:MNOV) and the Standard Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Code Number: 4875) focused on development of novel anti-inflammatory treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, malignant brain cancers, and metabolic diseases, provides shareholders a corporate update in the following Letter to Stockholders from CEO Yuichi Iwaki, M.D., Ph.D.:

To our esteemed stockholders,

Since its founding, MediciNova has been clear in its mission to deliver new treatment options to the patients suffering with unmet medical needs. In service of that mission, we have been steadfast in our commitment to both further our science in partnership with some of the greatest minds across the United States, and to do so in a way that preserves capital and provides optimal value to shareholders.

Our recently announced collaboration to supply our compound MN166 (ibudilast) as part of an NIH-funded expanded access clinical trial is illustrative of this commitment, as it provides the Company with non-dilutive funding as we collaborate to continue to develop MN166 for ALS without incurring the expenses associated with an additional clinical trial. The six-month trial is being conducted with 17 institutions, all under the aegis of the lead institution and funded entirely by the NIH and without the added expenses of contract research organizations (CROs). Concurrently, we are conducting the COMBAT-ALS trial, our Company-sponsored Phase 2/3 trial of MN166 for ALS, which is a sponsored 12-month trial. We believe that the combination of the two trials allow us to more completely investigate MN166 in a significantly larger patient population, while maintaining a prudent hold on cash.

Importantly, the NIH-funded trial is also very much in line with our corporate strategy, which is to choose a small number of trials on which to focus our resources and identify partners and other funding sources to ensure that additional programs are conducted, our pipeline is robust, and yet our cash reserves are minimally impacted. Another current example of this strategy is an ongoing clinical trial of MN-166 in Long COVID, which is being funded and conducted under the aegis of Health Canada. Much like the ALS program, MediciNova is providing study drug and some administrative support. However, the Canadian government is largely responsible for most other aspects of the trial. Once the trial is complete, Health Canada will turn the results over to the Company at which time it will be in a position to then apply for approval under that indication to Health Canada. We anticipate that there may be advantages in the regulatory process in Canada resulting from the partnership.

Waiting for permission
Allow microphone access to enable voice search

Try again.