Achaogen's stock rockets after positive UTI drug trial results
Achaogen Inc.'s stock rocketed 51% toward a 1 1/2-year high in premarket trade Monday, after the biopharmaceutical company said a phase 3 trial of its treatment for urinary tract infections met its primary endpoints. The company said its lead product candidate, plazomicin, also showed a lower rate of mortality or serious disease-related complications when compared with colistin therapy. Achaogen said it plans to submit a New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2017, and a marketing authorization application in 2018. "These data are exceptional and better than I would have expected - plazomicin's superiority in microbiologic cure for patients with cUTI at the test-of-cure visit compared to meropenem, a gold standard for treating MDR infections, is impressive. Importantly, the safety profile of the drug looks favorable," said James McKinnell, assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at Harbor-UCLA. The stock has dropped 8.5% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.