Looking At The Latest Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) Update

Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) just updated markets as to the state of its open label phase II in Bullous Pemphigoid (BP). Markets have sold off on the news, and the company currently trades at around a 6% discount to its start of the week capitalization. This is one we've covered before, with our most recent piece highlighting the importance of the company's latest hire – the appointment of Ranch C. Kimball, a highly regarded executive in healthcare, government, and private equity, as Chairman of its Board of Directors.The premise of our highlighting that appointment was that markets seemed to have missed the underlying implications, and in turn, that this inefficiency represented an opportunity to pick up an exposure ahead of a realignment.Well, in the wake of the latest announcement, we think it's happened again.Here's why.So, the news relates to the above mentioned BP investigation, which is attempting to ascertain the efficacy of a drug called Bertilimumab in the target indication. Those familiar with the company will already know that this drug is Immune's lead asset, and is also under investigation as part of the company's spearhead trial, investigating efficacy in ulcerative colitis. This is important, because the UC trial is what's going to determine near to medium term valuation, and any positive news from the drug in another study (even though it's in a different indication) is positive news for the lead trial.According to the most recent update, and as measured by what's called Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Activity Index (BPDAI), the drug reduced metric by an average of 84%, while oral prednisone was tapered down to 10mg or less. A few things are of note here. The first, that the sample is just 3 patients. The trial involves 10 total, but the data comes from 3. Second, that the tapering side of the equation relates to current SOC. Third, that these are newly diagnosed patients. We'll get to these latter two points in more detail soon.When these patients are diagnosed, they are given steroids as a standard of care. For those new to this condition, it's autoimmune related, and characterized by the formation of blisters, more appropriately known as bullae, at the space between the epidermis and dermis skin layers. Steroids ease the symptoms (but don't address the underlying condition) and are basically the only treatment option available as things stand. There are some serious issues related to steroid use, however, and therein lies the importance of a secondary alternative treatment. And this is where Bertilimumab comes in.Now, the trial is – as mentioned – in newly diagnosed patients, and it was attempting to show that the drug can improve the symptoms of the condition while also allowing patients the opportunity to taper their steroid intake. This is great, and the data is supportive of this hypothesis, but it only really scratches the surface of the condition. There are large numbers of patients that have built up resistance to the steroids SOC, but cannot stop taking them, or their condition will increase exponentially in severity. It's these patients that really need tapering, but the trial wasn’t set up to allow them to take part.And that's what the latest announcement addresses.Basically, the positive data from the 3 patients already treated is enough to underpin an expansion of the study into non-newly diagnosed patients, allowing Immune to identify clinical benefit in steroid resistant, and in desperate need of tapering, BP patients.This is a rare disease, and any potential expansion in approved patient population can make a big difference to topline. If Immune can demonstrate clinical benefit in the expanded sample, this drug is worth a lot more to it (and by proxy, shareholders) than it was before.Additionally, it should dramatically improve enrollment rate, and in turn, time to study completion. Enrolling in a rare disease is tough. When enrollment is limited to new diagnoses only, it's incredibly tough. Immune's BP trial has just shifted from the latter to the former.We're not ignoring the underlying issues when we make these claims. Reverse split, dilution, threat of delisting, management inconsistencies – these are all risks that this company has in spades. We've covered them in detail in previous pieces, however, so we're not going to repeat them here. What's important to takeaway is that with the latest update, the risks remain in place, but the reward just expanded.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on IMNP, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in IMNP and have not been compensated for this article.