(Reuters) – Madrigal Pharmaceuticals said on Monday its experimental drug for fatty liver disease met both of the main goals in a highly anticipated late-stage study, sending its shares soaring over 200%.
The positive data sets the stage for the drug, resmetirom, to become the first treatment for NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a disease that affects about 5% of adults in the United States but has no approved treatments.
The data comes as a timely fillip after the company raised “going concern” doubts due to lack of adequate cash, in a regulatory filing in November.
Madrigal’s shares more than tripled in premarket trading to $200.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Manas Mishra; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
