Mixed results from a pair of late-stage studies on a new treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis failed to blunt investors' enthusiasm for InterMune. Its stock jumped 27 percent ahead of the market open this morning.
The investors evidently preferred the positive data from the Capacity 2 trial of pirfenidone. The trial recruited 435 patients and met its primary and secondary endpoints. But the same drug failed its primary endpoint in the Capacity 1 trial, which included 344 volunteers. InterMune agreed that the data was mixed, but said that a consistency of responses in its trials left them convinced that the biotech could win approval for the therapy.
"While the primary endpoint was met in just one of two Capacity studies, there are significant consistencies across the two studies in the overall treatment effect of pirfenidone on lung function and exercise tolerance," Chief Medical Officer Steve Porter said in a statement.
If InterMune does win an approval for the drug, it will be a first for the FDA, which has yet to green-light a drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
- take a look at InterMune's release
- check out the report from TheStreet