Mesoblast insists Teva partnership is strong

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) has defended the strength of its relationship with key partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, calling rumors that Teva is not committed to the tie-up “unfounded.”

In a response to an ASX price query about a sudden decline in Mesoblast's stock price, the regenerative medicine company said it believed the cause to be “unfounded speculation... that Teva Pharmaceutiacals is not committed to the partnership.”

Mesoblast added that based on recent meetings with the Teva leadership team, the company “does not believe that these speculations have any basis in fact.”

Teva and Mesoblast have recently met with the FDA and the European Medicines Agency to help cement the trial design for a phase III trial using Mesoblast's mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) in patients with congestive heart failure, the response states.

Mesoblast rejected suggestions that this trial is not going forward, instead reiterating that subject to regulatory approval and an IND submission, it is expected to commence shortly.

The company added that the clinical protocol developed by the partners, if successfully implemented, will result in US and EU regulatory approval to sell MPCs for use in patients with CHF.

As well as the cardiovascular partnership, the partners are also collaborating to develop neurologic products from Mesoblast's stem cell technologies.

Last week, Mesoblast revealed plans to work with Teva to develop off-the-shelf adult dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) for neuroregenerative purposes, including potentially a treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Teva is currently Mesoblast's largest individual shareholder as well as its main partner.

The ASX sent the query after Mesoblast's share price fell from $6.35 to $5.44 in the three days leading up to Friday. After Mesoblast published its response yesterday, the shares spiked 7.23 per cent to close at $5.930.

As of around 10:30am on Tuesday, Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) shares had fallen back 0.93 per cent to $5.875.