Vertex reports Phase II data for pain candidate VX-150

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX) reported data from a Phase II trial in 243 patients with acute pain following bunionectomy showing that oral VX-150 every 12 hours for two days met the primary endpoint of improving time-weighted Sum of the Pain Intensity Difference from baseline over the first 24 hours (SPID24) vs. placebo (36.2 vs. 6.6 points, p<0.0001). VX-150 also met the secondary endpoint of improving SPID48 vs. placebo (112.2 vs. 49.4 points, p<0.0001). VX-150 was generally well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported.

The double-blind, U.S. trial also included a standard of care (SOC) reference arm in which patients received hydrocodone bitartrate/acetaminophen. Other secondary endpoints in the trial include rescue medication use, safety and pharmacokinetics...