Moonlake’s less-than-transparent data disclosures produced a cash windfall. Risks remain

For two days starting on Sunday, Moonlake Immunotherapeutics happily crunched numbers and shared results from a mid-stage clinical trial that depicted its experimental antibody in the most flattering terms possible.

The drug, called sonelokimab, was “changing the game” for the treatment of a debilitating skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, or HS, said Moonlake CEO Jorge Santos da Silva, on a call for investors and analysts. The drug’s benefit for patients placed it “at the top of the heap,” he added.

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For other, equally important data from the same study that did not fit Moonlake’s home-run narrative, the company took a DIY approach. Curious about how sonelokimab performed against a treatment that’s already approved for HS? Pull out a calculator and do the math yourself. How badly did a higher dose of the drug underperform a lower dose? Take a guess.

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