InterMune Gains From Hep C Drug Data

An early-stage study shows drug candidate ITMN-191 is safe and well-tolerated.
By Elizabeth Trotta ,

Updated from 12:33 p.m. EDT

InterMune

(ITMN)

and partner

Roche

Tuesday announced positive top-line results of an early-stage trial for ITMN-191, a hepatitis C treatment candidate.

The results sent shares of Brisbane, Calif.-based InterMune up 20% as the drug, given in gelatin capsules, delivered results similar to other hepatitis C drugs and exhibited flexibility in dosing.

The phase Ib trial looked at 100-mg and 200-mg doses, given two and three times in a 24-hour period (every eight or 12 hours) as a lone treatment.

The highest dose in four dose cohorts, 200-mg given three times in 24 hours, resulted in a mean maximum log reduction of 3.9. (Changes in viral load are generally measured in "log.") That maximum number, however, doesn't show whether the patients' viral loads had rebounded at the end of the 14 days.

For reference, in a 2005 phase Ib study,

Vertex's

(VRTX) - Get Report

telaprevir, given as a monotherapy every eight hours, had a 4.4 log reduction at the end of 14 days.

InterMune's study has one more dosing cohort that will begin next week -- a group of patients who've been previously treated for hepatitis C will receive a 300-mg dose every 12 hours.

Based on a preliminary review of the first four cohorts, InterMune said the drug was safe and well-tolerated, there were no serious adverse events and no one discontinued the study due to an adverse event.

"With rapid and substantial anti-viral effect at twice-daily doses and an excellent safety and tolerability profile to date, ITMN-191 has the potential to be the best-in-class protease inhibitor for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection," Dan Welch, chief executive officer of InterMune, said in a press release Tuesday.

The biotechnology company plans to begin a 14-day study of the drug in combination with standard hepatitis C regimen, Roche's Pegasys and Copegus, within the quarter.

InterMune also said that its partner Roche completed development of a tablet form of ITMN-191 to be used in the phase II program and has begun working on a formulation with once-daily potential as well.

InterMune shares recenlty traded up $2.82, or 19.3%, to $17.39.

Know What You Own

: SGP operates in the drug manufacturers industry, and some of the other stocks in its field include

Abbott Laboratories

(ABT) - Get Report

,

Bristol-Myers Squibb

(BMY) - Get Report

,

Merck

(MRK) - Get Report

and

Eli Lilly

(LLY) - Get Report

. These stocks were recently trading at ($54.88, -0.49%), ($22.01, +3.33%), ($38.18, +0.61%) and ($51.85, +0.50%) respectively. For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's

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