Why Cidara Therapeutics Was Such a Healthy Stock Today

Key Points

• The biotech launched a late-stage trial of a non-vaccine flu preventative.

• There is a vast addressable market for such a product.

• 10 stocks we like better than Cidara Therapeutics ›

Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CDTX) had some encouraging news to deliver at the end of the trading week, and investors traded the biotech's stock up as a result. It closed Friday nearly 7% higher in price, easily outpacing the 0.6% increase of the bellwether S&P 500 index.

Phase 3 trial begins for investigational flu shot

Just after market close Thursday, Cidara announced that the first patients in a phase 3 trial of its CD388, an investigational flu treatment, had been dosed with the medication.

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The medicine, a non-vaccine preventive, targets seasonal influenza in populations that are at high risk for complications of the affliction. The launch of the trial comes after the clinical-stage biotech reported encouraging performance of the treatment in a phase 2b trial.

The late-stage trial is planned as a double-blind and placebo controlled study to evaluate the drug's safety and efficacy. Both youth and adults will participate in it, and Cidara aims to have immunocompromised people form at least 10% of the total number of participants.

The healthcare company pointed out one significant advantage of CD388 -- since it's not a vaccine, its effectiveness isn't based on an immune response from the patient. Such a medicine can be useful in a range of situations, as it can be administered to people who don't respond to vaccines, or to those who feel that vaccines are inherently harmful.

Good timing

Flu is very much on the minds of both medical professionals and the general public, as we're entering the peak season for it -- so the timing of Cidara's announcement seems ideal. A non-vaccine jab can be a very compelling product if the treatment does well in the new study, and ultimately is approved by regulators and commercialized.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.