Mesoblast hit 300 patients in a pivotal chronic back pain trial. AuKing raised $5 million for Malawi drilling. Tusker released a 2.1-2.6 billion tonne rutile exploration target.
Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) hit 300 patients in its pivotal phase 3 trial of rexlemestrocel-L for chronic low back pain (CLBP). The milestone triggered the first real-time conversation on the HotCopper forums Tuesday morning.
The study tests whether a single intra-discal injection of the drug can produce durable pain reduction. An earlier trial showed the effect and the company now has enough participants in the placebo-controlled arm to power the data readout.
"Commercial manufacturing is proceeding in parallel so that we can file for approval as soon as possible after trial results readout," CEO Silviu Itescu said.
MSB traded at $2.37, up 0.64%, as of the late-morning local session.
AuKing Mining (ASX:AKN) drew forum traffic after confirming a $5 million equity placement backed by family offices and global institutional investors. Proceeds fund an expanded drilling campaign at the Tundulu rare earths project in southern Malawi, where initial log sampling has turned up positive results.
AKN changed hands at 2.7¢, down 3.57%.
The day's biggest percentage gainer among the resource names was Tusker Minerals (ASX:TSK), after the company published a JORC (2012) exploration target for the Diwong South deposit at the Douala Basin project in Central Africa. The target range: 2.1 to 2.6 billion tonnes at 2.1 to 2.3% total heavy minerals (THM), with indicative in-situ grades of 0.3 to 0.35% rutile and 0.06 to 0.07% zircon.
The ASX 200 was down 23.5 points, or 0.27%.
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