Reuters: Global Markets: Xoma's drug combo lowers high blood pressure in late-stage study

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Xoma's drug combo lowers high blood pressure in late-stage study Nov 20th 2012, 22:45 Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:45pm EST (Reuters) - Xoma Corp said its experimental combination of two drugs met the main goal of lowering hypertension better than a treatment based on either of the drugs alone in a late-stage study, sending the biotechnology company's shares up 6 percent. The combination of perindopril arginine and amlodipine besylate showed statistically significant reduction in sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressure after six weeks of treatment, compared with either drugs alone, Xoma said. The company said it does not plan to market the product directly but intends to sublicense it to a third party. Xoma's partner, French pharmaceutical company Les Laboratoires Servier, already markets the combination under the trade name Coveram in 91 countries outside the United States. Perindopril and amlodipine each target different cardiovascular functions and are, therefore, used in combination by physicians to treat high blood pressure, Xoma said. The company bought the rights to Servier's perindropril franchise in January. The combination was well tolerated in the trial, and there were no serious adverse events, Xoma said. Shares of the company rose to $2.84 in extended trade. They closed nearly 3 percent higher at $2.68 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq.

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