Vir shares soar on hep D data

Shares in California’s Vir Biotechnology (Nasdaq: VIR) closed 20% higher after Wednesday’s trading on promising new research data.

Vir earlier announced new preliminary data from its Phase II SOLSTICE trial evaluating tobevibart, an investigational monoclonal antibody, and elebsiran, an investigational small interfering ribonucleic acid partnered with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY), to treat chronic hepatitis delta (D).

"We are committed to working closely with regulatory authorities to determine the next steps to bring these promising candidates to patients in need as expeditiously as possible"Preliminary data from the trial show treatment with tobevibart alone or in combination with elebsiran was generally well tolerated and participants achieved high rates of virologic response at weeks 12 and 24, durable virologic response through 48 weeks, and high rates of alanine aminotransferase normalization.