Alnylam's stock surges as heart drug vies with a Pfizer blockbuster

By Eleanor Laise

'Clear home run' for Alnylam also boosts shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Intellia Therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s stock (ALNY) jumped nearly 40% premarket on Monday after the company released results of a late-stage trial for a heart drug that analysts see competing with a key Pfizer treatment.

The Alnylam drug, vutrisiran, cut the risk of death and recurring cardiovascular problems by 28% in the overall trial population, the company said in a release. The trial involved patients with transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM, a debilitating condition that causes the heart to stiffen and limits its ability to pump blood.

Some patients in the trial also took Pfizer's drug for ATTR-CM, which is called tafamidis and marketed as Vyndaqel or Vyndamax. Alnylam's vutrisiran cut the risk of death by 36% in the overall patient population and by 35% in patients taking vutrisiran alone, Alnylam said. Both patient groups also achieved significant improvements on a six-minute walk test, a questionnaire that assesses patients' perception of their health and other measures of disease progression.

The results look like a "best-case scenario win," William Blair analyst Myles Minter said in a research note Monday. The "clear home run" for Alnylam, Minter said, also bodes well for Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Intellia Therapeutics Inc., which are working on related treatments. Ionis shares (IONS) gained about 6% premarket on Monday, while Intellia's stock (NTLA) was up 10%.

The new data show vutrisiran to be "a very competitive drug" in ATTR-CM, BMO Capital Markets analyst Kostas Biliouris said in a research note, with the potential to be used as a first-line treatment for the condition or in combination with Pfizer's Vyndaqel. Pfizer generated $3.3 billion in global sales from the Vyndaqel family of drugs in 2023, up 36% from a year earlier. The pharmaceutical giant's stock (PFE) was up 0.3% premarket Monday.

Alnylam said it plans to file a supplemental application with the Food and Drug Administration for approval of vutrisiran in ATTR-CM. The drug, marketed as Amvuttra, is already approved for treatment of nerve damage related to transthyretin amyloidosis.

Alnylam's stock was down 13% in the year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 SPX gained 14.6%.

-Eleanor Laise

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06-24-24 0912ET

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