Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) has announced positive interim results from its ongoing Phase 1 trial of the orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist, ORX750.
Centessa shares jumped 14% in premarket trading.
The study demonstrated that acutely sleep-deprived healthy volunteers who received ORX750 experienced statistically significant increases in wakefulness and favorable safety profiles.
Mean sleep latency for the 2.5 mg dose was 32 minutes compared to 17 minutes for the placebo (p-value = 0.01).
“The early data generated has exceeded our expectations, giving us the confidence to accelerate the program into the next stage of clinical development earlier than anticipated,” said Saurabh Saha MD PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Centessa.
The company plans to initiate Phase 2 studies of ORX750 in patients with narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia later in 2024.