Sarepta's DMD trial halted in U.K. on safety signal

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) said it halted dosing at U.K. study sites in the Phase III ESSENCE trial evaluating golodirsen (SRP-4053) and casimersen (SRP-4045) to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sarepta shares were off $2.03 to $55.14 Friday.

In a statement, the company said the stoppage resulted from a serious adverse event "that could possibly be related to the investigational drug product." Sarepta did not respond to a query regarding which candidate may be tied to the event. It noted that the SAE, rhabdomyolysis, is not unusual to observe in DMD patients...