Isis climbs on LPA data

Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) jumped $6.90 (12%) to $62.77 on Monday after reporting that its ISIS-APO(a)Rx and ISIS-APO(a)-LRx significantly reduced lipoprotein(a) (LPA) in clinical trials to treat patients with high LPA levels. ISIS-APO(a)Rx is an antisense oligonucleotide that inhibits apolipoprotein A, and ISIS-APO(a)-LRx is a ligand conjugated antisense version of ISIS-APO(a)Rx that is 30 times more potent than the parent molecule in humans.

In the Phase II trial, 65 patients who received ISIS-APO(a)Rx once weekly for 12 weeks achieved LPA reductions of up to 94%, with a mean reduction of 71% (p≤0.001). Patients had baseline LPA levels that were either high (≥50 mg/dL and <175 mg/dL) or very high (≥175 mg/dL). ...