Alnylam reports positive data for midstage drug trial
Biopharmaceutical company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that midstage study results of its experimental therapy ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of a respiratory disease showed it is safe, well-tolerated and worked against the virus.
Shares of Cambridge-based Alnylam jumped $3.50, or 11.5 percent, to $34 in premarket trading; Alnylam shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
In the study of ALN-RSV01 versus placebo, 88 adult subjects were experimentally infected with a clinical strain of RSV.
Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants and children under 1 year of age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The subjects received ALN-RSV01 or placebo in a nasal form for five consecutive days.
The company said the drug candidate showed "statistically significant" anti-viral activity related to symptoms and the drug's effects on the infection.
"We are very pleased with the results of GEMINI (the study) and look forward to advancing this program to its next stage of development, a Phase II study in naturally infected adult patients which we expect to initiate in the first half of this year," chief executive John Maraganore said.
ALN-RSV01 is a gene-silencing technology, which is aimed at switching off genes at the root of a condition.
The complete results of the study are to be presented at the International Symposium on Respiratory Viral Infections meeting Feb. 28- March 2 in Singapore. (AP)
