The CLINUVEL Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV) share price has come under pressure again on Monday and is sinking lower.
The biopharmaceutical company's shares were down as much as 10% to a 52-week low of $15.91 at one stage. They have since recovered some of these declines, but are still down a sizeable 5% to $16.92 at the time of writing.
This is despite the company attempting to ease concerns that its manufacturing and supply chain could be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.
What did CLINUVEL announce?
This morning CLINUVEL revealed that it has received numerous queries regarding its supply chain and the manufacturing of its SCENESSE product following the coronavirus outbreak.
SCENESSE has been developed as a first-line pharmaceutical product aimed at treating patients with the rare genetic disorder erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP).
According to the release, the company can confirm that neither the drug substance nor the excipients of the SCENESSE product have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
CLINUVEL advised that the synthetic peptide, afamelanotide, which is the active ingredient in SCENESSE, is manufactured under current good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions in the European Union. It is then supplied to a contract manufacturer under cold-chain transport in the United States.
Furthermore, other synthetic excipients of SCENESSE are sourced within the United States.
The company's Chief Scientific Officer, Dennis Wright, explained: "CLINUVEL is cognisant of worldwide concern about the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on the health of the community. As part of our global pharmacovigilance and quality management systems, we have a duty to reassure the medical community. We can provide comfort to patients, physicians, and other stakeholders that the supply of SCENESSE to those in need it is not impacted by the current coronavirus outbreak."
When CLINUVEL's share price hit its 52-week low, it meant its shares had lost 65% of their value since hitting a 52-week high of $45.88 in October.
