PTC Therapeutics Inc. jumped in early market trading after saying an experimental therapy for a deadly muscle disease, which was rejected by U.S. regulators earlier this year, may have helped some patients preserve lung function in a study.
Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who took the drug, called ataluren, may have had their ability to breathe preserved when compared against a previous study assessing patients’ pulmonary functions, PTC said in a statement Thursday. Comparing patients in a study to those observed in other settings is not considered the highest quality evidence for a drug’s effectiveness.
