March 16 (Reuters) – Rhythm Pharmaceuticals said on Monday its experimental obesity drug in patients with rare genetic conditions did not meet the main goal of a late-stage trial.
Shares of the Boston-based company fell over 7% in extended trading.
The trial was testing whether the drug, setmelanotide, could meaningfully reduce body mass index, or BMI, compared to a placebo over 52 weeks in patients whose obesity is caused by specific genetic mutations.
The four patient groups in the trial each carried a different gene variant — POMC/PCSK1, LEPR, SRC1, and SH2B1 — that disrupts a biological pathway in the brain known to regulate hunger and body weight.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
