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FDA Backs Testing of Device Once Flagged for Covid Speculation

FDA Backs Testing of Device Once Flagged for Covid Speculation

As far back as January, stock traders were latching onto Aethlon Medical Inc. and its experimental Hemopurifier device as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus. After shares quadrupled that month from less than $1 each, market speculation got so heated that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading in the stock for two weeks.

In early March, the company put out a cautious statement, saying it wasn’t sure if the Hemopurifier would help with Covid-19, and even then potentially only in the sickest patients.

FDA Backs Testing of Device Once Flagged for Covid Speculation

Flash forward to June 18: Aethlon reported that U.S. regulators cleared the company to run a feasibility study of its investigational device in as many as 40 patients under intensive care for severe Covid-19. Shares climbed as much as 165% to $3.73 a share Thursday to the highest intraday since Feb. 3, a few days prior to the SEC halt.

Before the pandemic hit, the San Diego-based company had been focusing on Hemopurifier’s potential use in head and neck cancer, following years of testing it in infectious diseases without gaining U.S. approval to market the device.

Even with today’s surge, Aethlon’s stock remains well off its 52-week high of $9 reached last July. Its market value was below $30 million mid-Thursday.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.