Biotech company Wave Life Sciences’ shares plummeted , after clinical test results on a anti-Huntington disease drug turned out to be a bit disappointing.
The trial, which compared the results from oligonucleotide therapeutic WVE-120102 with a placebo, showed a statistically significant 12.4% reduction in a disease-causing mutant huntingtin protein, at the highest doses tested ( as indicated in the Wave Life’s statement). However, “there was no difference" in total huntingtin protein compared with placebo, the company said.
The drug was generally safe and “well tolerated among patients receiving doses up to 16 mg in both single and multidose portions of the study,” according to Wave Life.
Wave Life conducted a Phase 1b/2a Precision-HD2 trial. Results from another Phase 1b/2a, Precision-HD1( evaluating WVE-120101 in early manifest Huntington patients) is expected to come out in the second half of next year, as indicated by the company.
Huntington disease often appears in adults in their 30s and 40s, is a progressive brain disorder that causes uncontrolled movements, emotional problems, and loss of thinking ability, according to the National Institutes of Health.