: Altimmune’s stock soars more than 40% after biopharma company says trial of obesity drug led to weight loss

Altimmune Inc. ALT shares rallied more than 40% in the extended session Thursday after the clinical-stage biopharma company said 391 people enrolled in a trial of its obesity drug pemvidutide lost weight taking the pill in conjunction with diet and exercise. More than 50% of enrollees achieved at least 15% weight loss and more than 30% of people achieved at least 20% weight loss on certain doses of the drug, the company said. “As in prior clinical trials, pemvidutide resulted in robust reductions in serum lipids and improvements in blood pressure without imbalances in cardiac events, arrhythmias or clinically meaningful increases in heart rate,” Altimmune said. Nausea and vomiting were most of the side effects, the company said. “The level of weight loss achieved at 48 weeks in this trial has been shown to reverse the key complications of obesity,” Chief Medical Officer Scott Harris said in a statement. “It is also important to recognize the safety profile of pemvidutide observed to date,” he said. Chief Executive Vipin K. Garg said it was an “important day for Altimmune and we couldn’t be more pleased with these results.” Altimmune shares ended the regular trading day up 1%.

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