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Enanta leaps on AbbVie's HCV data

December 11, 2013 2:45 AM UTC

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) jumped $8.48 (29%) to $38.14 on Tuesday after AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) reported the second set of Phase III data for the pharma's all-oral regimen of three antivirals -- ABT-450 boosted with AbbVie's Norvir ritonavir, ABT-267 and ABT-333 -- plus ribavirin for 12 weeks to treat chronic HCV genotype 1 infection. ABT-450 is the lead HCV protease inhibitor discovered by Enanta and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), which spun out its pharmaceutical business into AbbVie. Enanta would be eligible for up to $195 million in milestones if ABT-450 is the first protease inhibitor under the deal to be approved, plus double-digit royalties. ABT-450 is an HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor.

In 297 patients in the active treatment arm in the Phase III SAPPHIRE-II (Study M13-098) trial, the triple combination regimen produced a sustained virologic response (SVR) 12 weeks after the end of treatment in 96% of patients. SVR12 rates were 96% in patients with HCV genotype 1a infection (n=173) and 97% in patients with HCV genotype 1b infection (n=123). The double-blind trial enrolled 394 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection with no evidence of liver cirrhosis who had failed peginterferon and ribavirin. ...