Specialty pharmaceutical Oxford Pharmascience (OXP:AIM) jumped 6% to 2.85p after saying it is ready to make products for use later this year in proof of concept clinical trials under its Safestat programme. The news expands the small cap?s interests in the $27 billion global statin market.
The company has successfully re-formulated the widely-used molecules in generic cholesterol-lowering statin drugs Atorvastatin and Simvastatin. The Safestat programme has been designed to improve the accuracy of the drugs? delivery to the colon while using a quarter of the existing dosage and retaining the same lipid lowering efficacy.
Oxford Pharmascience strives to make medicines safer and easier for consumers to take. The breakthrough in its Safestat programme will boost the company?s expansion into the larger generic drugs market.
Its shares have increased by 36% since the start of the year and advanced by 65% in 2012.
