Ironwood upbeat on promising linaclotide PhIII data

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has served up a fresh round of promising data on its experimental drug linaclotide, offering evidence demonstrating its effectiveness as a treatment for chronic constipation. A significant segment of the patients in the pivotal trial experienced relief from constipation, bloating and abdominal discomfort.

Ironwood and Forest Laboratories expect to report data from two other late-stage studies among IBS patients suffering from constipation in the first half of 2010. A success in those trials would leave Ironwood, a Fierce 15 company, and Forest on track to an approval for a drug that would compete for a share of a $25 billion IBS market. Tom Russo, an analyst with Robert W. Baird, has estimated potential sales in 2015 at $572 million.

"We are pleased to observe how well the top-line results of these larger Phase III trials replicate the effect of linaclotide observed in our Phase IIb trial," said Peter Hecht, Ironwood's bullish CEO.

- see Ironwood's release
- check out the story from Xconomy

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