(Bloomberg) — Shares of Insmed Inc. have more than doubled after the company’s experimental drug reduced episodes of worsening symptoms in a final-stage study of patients with a rare lung disease.
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Patients with bronchiectasis who received Insmed’s brensocatib had fewer exacerbations than those who received a placebo in the one-year study, New Jersey-based Insmed said in a statement Tuesday. The company plans to apply for approval for the US market in the last quarter of the year and launch the drug in mid-2025.
The findings are a “home run scenario,” JPMorgan analyst Jessica Fye said in a note. “We see these results transforming the business and unlocking a key driver of value.”
Shares rose as much as 140% on the open market in New York, the highest level in seven years, taking the company’s market value to $7.3 billion.
Bronchiectasis causes widening and relaxing of the airways in the lungs, along with a buildup of mucus that can lead to coughing fits and breathing difficulties. Insmed’s drug inhibits DPP1, an enzyme involved in chronic pneumonia and, if approved, would be the first to treat bronchiectasis, the statement said.
“There is a huge unmet need in bronchiectasis,” said Ritu Baral, an analyst at TD Cowen, in a letter to clients. Insmed’s data supports the approval of brensocatib, “which is likely to present a significant market opportunity,” Baral said in the note.
(Updates with shares and analyst reaction from the first paragraph.)
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