Insmed planning Phase III for rare lung disorder therapy following mixed Phase II readout

Insmed rose $8.34 (41%) to $28.88 on Monday, gaining $745 million in market cap, after its chronic lung inflammation therapy met the primary endpoint in a Phase II study. But the data, which included an inverse dose response and a miss for the high dose on a secondary endpoint, raise questions about how Insmed’s bet on the first-in-class pulmonary candidate it got from AstraZeneca will play out.

In the Phase II WILLOW trial to treat non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, both the 10 mg and 25 mg dose of INS1007 extended the time to first pulmonary exacerbation vs. placebo (p=0.027 and p=0.044, respectively), meeting the study’s primary endpoint. ...