(Reuters) -Insmed said on Tuesday that its experimental drug significantly reduced blood pressure in the lungs and improved exercise capacity in patients in a mid-stage study, sending shares of the company up 26% in premarket trading.
The drug, treprostinil palmitil, is a once-daily therapy that is inhaled through a device. The 102-patient study found that the drug helped reduce blood pressure in the patients’ lungs by 35%, compared with a placebo.
It also helped improve the patients’ ability to walk by an average of 35.5 meters and reduced levels of a protein associated with heart stress by 60%.
The company plans to discuss the trial data with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and initiate a late-stage trial for the drug in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) — a rare disease caused by a constriction of arteries in the lungs, leading to high blood pressure – in early 2026.
Insmed also plans to start a separate late-stage trial for the drug in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease – a condition where lung scarring leads to high blood pressure in the lung arteries – before the end of 2025.
Current treatment options available to treat PAH are Merck’s injectable Winrevair and Liquidia’s inhaled Yutrepia.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
