InterMune Stock Gets Boost as FDA Staff Questions Lung Drug
The FDA staff said it has a bunch of questions about InterMune’s new drug to slow deteriorating lung functioning. But investors figure the concerns weren’t as bad as they could have been, sending the biotech’s shares soaring.
The stock jumped as much as 74% after FDA reviewers said only one of InterMune’s two late-stage trails for the experimental drug pirfenidone had met its main goal and added that “the clinical significance of the treatment effect size is uncertain.” The FDA documents, which were released ahead of an advisory panel meeting to discuss the drug Tuesday, also had a mix of other things to say.
All things considered, an Oppenheimer analyst noted the “tone was less negative than expected,” all things considered and there was room for the drug to still get FDA approval. The shares settled down in later trading, but still finished up nearly 60% for the day.
InterMune often appears on lists of likely biotech takeover candidates. FDA approval of pirfenidone would give it two drugs on the U.S. market.
The new drug would treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which affects about 200,000 Americans, the majority of whom eventually die of respiratory failure. The FDA noted that there aren’t any approved drugs […]
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