Promising mid-stage results for Prosensa’s drisapersen in DMD boys

Shares of Dutch biotech firm Prosensa Holding (Nasdaq: RNA) rose 3.85% to $7.02 after the firm reported encouraging 48-week data from its USA-based, Phase II placebo-controlled study (DMD114876 or DEMAND V) of its lead compound, drisapersen, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

This was a positive for Prosensa, as earlier this year UK dug giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) returned all rights to drisapersen and terminating their potentially $680 million collaboration (The Pharma Letter January 13). Last fall, GSK and Prosensa announced that results of a Phase III study (DMD114044) of drisapersen in boys with DMD did not meet the primary endpoint, news which caused the Dutch firm’s shares to go into free-fall, shedding 74% of their value to $6.34 (TPL September 23, 2013).

Improvement in muscle function and 6MWT