Human Genome Falls as Drug's Dose Modified in Tests (Update4)
By Kelly Riddell
Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Human Genome Sciences Inc., a maker of genetic-based drugs and medical products, had its biggest plunge after saying it will change the dosing of its experimental hepatitis-C drug Albuferon in patient tests.
Patients receiving 1,200-microgram doses of the drug will now receive 900-microgram doses in the final testing of the drug before U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, the Rockville, Maryland-based company said in a statement.
The dose was lowered on recommendations from the independent data monitoring committee, the company said. ``Serious pulmonary adverse events'' were higher in the group receiving 1,200-microgram doses of Albuferon every two weeks, the statement said.
``The market is overreacting on the news,'' Jason Kolbert, an analyst with Susquehanna International Group LLP, said in an interview from New York. ``There's potential negative implications for once-monthly dosing, but at the end of the day, the 900-microgram, twice-monthly formulation is a significant improvement in life and always the targeting dose for the company.''
In June, Human Genome Sciences said Albuferon, given every other week, held hepatitis C in check as effectively as a weekly treatment with Roche Holding AG's Pegasys. Kolbert, who rates the shares ``positive,'' said most patients would prefer half of the treatment injections.
``This is an approvable drug with potential to be a blockbuster,'' Kolbert said. Human Genome Sciences currently has no products on the market.
$2 Billion Annual Market
Four million Americans have hepatitis C, which can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and death. The market for drugs for the disease is currently $2 billion a year, Kolbert said, and is expected to double and then double again within the next 10 years.
Human Genome slumped $4.40, or 44 percent, to $5.62 as of 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading, the most since its initial public offering in December 1993. The stock fell 4 percent this year before today.
Human Genome Sciences makes Albuferon by fusing two naturally occurring human blood proteins, albumin and interferon alpha. It is being developed by Human Genome and Novartis AG, the Basel, Switzerland-based drugmaker. Under an agreement reached in June 2006, the two companies will share the costs of development and getting approval to market the product.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Riddell in Washington at Kriddell1@bloomberg.net.
Al een oud bericht , maar toch wel leuk om te lezen .
Stond volgens mij nog niet op forum.