Cypress Bio Bags a Double

Shares of Forest Laboratories (FRX) and Cypress Bioscience (CYPB) surged Wednesday thanks to favorable clinical trial results for milnacipran, their experimental drug for treating fibromyalgia syndrome.

Preliminary results of a late-stage clinical trial, released after the market closed Tuesday, showed that the drug met the study's goals of measuring pain relief. A more detailed review of the clinical trial involving nearly 1,200 people will be completed in the coming weeks, the companies said.

Patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome experience chronic pain and stiffness throughout their bodies and also can suffer from fatigue and insomnia.

If the full review confirms the preliminary results, the companies plan to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration by year-end.

The development had shares of tiny Cypress soaring by $8.61, or 102%, to $17.06. Milnacipran is the company's closest-to-market compound. Cypress licensed the drug from France's Pierre Fabre Medicament in 2001.

Forest, which signed a marketing agreement with Cypress in 2004, rose $2.71, or 5.2%, to $54.59. Forest has cited milnacipran as one of several key compounds for its future growth, especially when patents expire on top-selling drugs early in the next decade. The antidepressant Lexapro and the Alzheimer's disease drug Namenda now account for 61% and 19% of corporate revenue, respectively.

Milnacipran has had a complicated history in the U.S. In September 2005, the companies said a late-stage clinical trial had failed to meet its goals, but they said they would continue developing the drug and conducting additional tests.