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Aclaris Stock Up on JAK Inhibitor's Encouraging Activity

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Shares of Aclaris Therapeutics Inc (ACRS - Free Report) have risen 8.3% since it announced positive interim data on June 28 from a phase II study on its topical JAK inhibitor, ATI-502, which is being developed for the treatment of Alopecia Areata (AA).

However, the stock has declined 15.9% year to date against the industry’s increase of 2.9%.

Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune dermatologic condition, resulting in patchy non-scarring hair loss, usually affecting the scalp. The phase II study is evaluating ATI-502 for the therapy of Alopecia Totalis (AT) or Alopecia Universalis, which are more severe variants of Alopecia Areata (AA) and are characterized by total hair loss on the scalp/body. There are currently no drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of AA.

The company reported interim results on six patients of the 11 enrolled in the study. Results from the full cohort study will be reported in the future.

Data presented from the trial showed that topical ATI-502 is positively impacting the gene expression signature implicated in alopecia areata. It showed that ATI-502 penetrates the skin and engages the target safely as well as has low systemic exposure.

Aclaris currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Better-ranked stocks in the same sector include Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ - Free Report) , CollPlant Holdings Ltd. (CLGN - Free Report) and BioLineRx Ltd. , all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

Jazz’s earnings estimates have been revised 0.5% upward for 2018 and 0.3% for 2019 in the last 60 days. The stock has surged 31.1% year to date.

CollPlant’s loss per share estimates have been narrowed by 1.7% for 2018 and 1.4% for 2019 over the past 60 days.

BioLineRx’s loss per share estimates have been narrowed by 16.1% for 2018 and 15% for 2019 over the last 60 days.

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