Amryt Pharma PLC (LON:AMYT) said a real world study of its cholesterol-lowering drug showed it to be “very powerful and well tolerated”.
In fact Lojuxta performed better in the field than it did in phase III clinical trials in treating Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (HoFH).
This a rare, life-threatening disease, which impairs the body's ability to remove ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) from the blood.
WATCH: Amryt Pharma's Dr Helen Phillips on 'remarkable' real-world Lojuxta study
CLICK HERE: For a daily round-up of all the Proactive news
The drug delivered higher reductions in LDL cholesterol than can currently be achieved with any other drug or intervention.
The study, carried out by Laura D'Erasmo from Sapienza University of Rome, assessed data from 15 patients with HoFH.
It showed Lojuxta reduced LDL-C by a mean 76.5%, with 30% of the patients achieving a greater than 90% reduction.
This was achieved on a lower dose than that used in the phase III trial.
Patients able to stop painful treatment
The treatment also enabled 80% of patients to stop apheresis, an invasive procedure to remove LDL-C from the blood stream.
"This real-world experience, has shown Lojuxta to be a very powerful and well tolerated cholesterol-lowering agent in patients with HoFH,” said Professor Marcello Arca, of Sapienza University of Rome.
“The reduction in LDL-C that we observed is far higher than seen in clinical trials and higher than we can achieve with any other therapeutic option we have for patients with this difficult to treat and devastating disease.
“The ability to stop apheresis and still achieve LDL-C target levels in patients who had LDL-C levels up to eight times the recommended level is remarkable.”
The company holds an exclusive licence to sell Lojuxta in the EU and other territories including the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Israel.
The shares, up 25% in the past year, advanced 11% in afternoon trade to 24.44p, valuing the business at £52mln.
---adds share price---