Alnylam stock hit a record high Wednesday after the company reported a "clean hit" for its Pfizer-rivaling cardiomyopathy drug in a final-phase study.
On today's stock market, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' stock skyrocketed 49.3% to close at 212.01. Early on, shares hit a record high at 220.92, catapulting almost 56%.
The company tested its drug, patisiran, in patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis affecting the heart. In this condition, abnormal plaque builds on the heart and surrounding tissue, causing systemic problems.
But patisiran improved the distance patients could walk for six minutes, a marker of their heart fitness, after a year of treatment. Patisiran-recipients also reported an improvement in their quality of life, measured by a questionnaire.
SVB Securities analyst Mani Foroohar described the results as a "clean hit."
"In the face of a great deal of debate and controversy heading into this data, we see this result as a clean hit that should support a high probability of approval across geographies for patisiran in (transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis affecting the heart)," he said in a report to clients.
Alnylam Stock: Closely Followed Study
The controversy stems from an earlier failure by BridgeBio. Late last year, BridgeBio said placebo patients outperformed recipients of its cardiomyopathy treatment. Shares of the biotech stock have crumbled since, and investors have turned their attention to Alnylam.
Alnylam's approach is different from BridgeBio's. BridgeBio hoped to stabilize the protein at the center of the disease. Meanwhile, Alnylam's drug aims to turn off the gene responsible for producing it.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Luca Issi called Alnylam's results a "best-case scenario." And he notes Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Intellia Therapeutics are also working on treatments for the heart component of amyloidosis. Pfizer has the only drugs approved for the condition.
"We appreciate that data today is best case for the field more broadly as it validates the therapeutic hypothesis that silencing the protein can make an impact for patients," he said in his report to clients. He kept his outperform rating and 225 price target on Alnylam stock.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
