Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX) said Monday its pill succeeded in a study of people with a growth hormone disorder, and the biotech stock soared on the news.
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In midday trading on the stock market today, Crinetics shares skyrocketed 63% to 26.06. Earlier in the session, CRNX stock rose as much as 84% to 29.44. That put shares at their highest point since January 2019. The move also reversed a four-day decline for the biotech stock.
The company studied its drug, called paltusotine, in patients with acromegaly. In this disorder, patients make too much of a specific growth hormone.
Crinetics tested its daily pill in patients whose hormones were well controlled by standard shots. After 36 weeks, 83% of patients who took paltusotine maintained controlled hormone levels vs. just 4% of placebo recipients. The company is running a second Phase 3 study that could help it seek approval in early 2024, Chief Executive Scott Struthers said in a written statement.
Leerink Partners analyst Joseph Schwartz noted Crinetics is studying paltusotine in a number of other diseases. The company also has a burgeoning early-stage pipeline that should snag interest from investors in biotech stocks.
“The positive data reinforce to us that Crinetics has a strong clinical development team on top of their chemistry/biology expertise,” he said in a report. He says the results bode well for the upcoming second Phase 3 study due next year.
Biotech Stock: Switching From Shots To Pills
Traditionally, patients with acromegaly receive semi-regular shots to tamp down on the overproduced growth hormone. In Crinetics’ study, patients switched from under-the-skin injections — where their disease was well controlled — to paltusotine.
Crinetics said paltusotine was well tolerated with no serious side effects. All paltusotine recipients had at least one side effect, however. The most common were joint pain, headache, diarrhea, stomach pain and nausea. Bullishly for the biotech stock, 30% of patient taking paltusotine had side effects doctors consider related to acromegaly vs. 86% of placebo patients.
“We designed paltusotine to be the preferred therapeutic option for people living with acromegaly,” CEO Struthers said.
Despite its reversal of fortunes, biotech stock Crinetics remains lowly rated with a poor IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 19. This means shares rank in the lowest 19% of all stocks when it comes to 12-month performance.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_AGatlin.
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