Dive Brief:
- Shares of Ventyx Biosciences, a San Diego-based drug company, nearly doubled Thursday morning after the company said an experimental medicine it’s been studying in people with obesity showed significant effects on cardiovascular risk factors in a mid-stage trial.
- The medicine, code-named VTX3232, failed to help trial participants lose more weight when given alone or as an add-on therapy to semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. It did, however, significantly reduce biological markers of inflammation, fat levels and liver illness, Ventyx said late Wednesday.
- Analysts argue the results lend more support to Ventyx’s approach of fighting disease by focusing on an inflammasome known as NLRP3. Shares of a rival company also targeting NLRP3, BioAge Labs, jumped more than 30% in early trading Thursday.
Dive Insight:
While Ventyx’s data “technically missed” by showing no effect on obesity, Wall Street analysts did not have high expectations for the medicine on that front, according to Jefferies analyst Andrew Tsai. The study’s other findings, meanwhile, could attract a partner to advance the drug in cardiovascular diseases instead, Tsai wrote in a note to clients.
“VTX3232, as an oral, once daily drug, represents a transformative opportunity in the treatment of cardiovascular disease,” the company said in its release. There’s “growing evidence,” the company added, that targeting NLRP3 can benefit patients by curbing inflammation that can lead to atherosclerosis, arrhythmias, heart failure and other cardiometabolic disorders.
The promise of NLRP3 in a variety of diseases has attracted companies ranging from startups like NodThera to pharmaceutical giants like Roche. Ventyx is also testing VTX3232 in patients with early Parkinson’s disease. And it has another NLRP3 drug, VTX2735, in development for a condition in which the membrane surrounding the heart becomes inflamed multiple times.
In this latest study, VTX3232 met the main goal, which was safety and tolerability. The secondary aim was to observe drug’s effects on “hsCRP” — short for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a biomarker that helps predict the risk of coronary artery disease. Researchers also looked at weight loss and other measures of inflammation.
The company conducted two hsCRP analyses of patients receiving VTX3232. They showed those given the experimental drug had either a 64% or 78% reduction in hsCRP after 12 weeks, compared with a 3% increase among participants on a placebo. VTX3232-treated patients also showed reductions in liver inflammation and levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6.
Ventyx shifted its focus more toward NLRP3 drugs after a setback with another type of medicine designed to treat Crohn’s disease. In its release Wednesday, the company said it will update investors “in future disclosures” on its plans for advancing VTX3232.
At the high point, Ventyx shares traded at $7.82 Thursday morning.
