Altimmune stock tumbles after MASH drug trial data

Investing.com -- Altimmune Inc (NASDAQ:ALT) stock plunged 22.8% Friday after the company released 48-week data from its Phase 2b trial of pemvidutide for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

The biopharmaceutical company reported that pemvidutide, its glucagon/GLP-1 dual receptor agonist, achieved statistically significant improvements in non-invasive markers of fibrosis compared to placebo. The 1.8 mg dose showed continued weight loss from the 24-week to 48-week timepoint without plateauing, with patients achieving 7.5% weight loss versus 0.2% for placebo.

Despite these positive results, investors appeared disappointed with the data, sending shares sharply lower. The trial showed that patients receiving pemvidutide 1.2 mg and 1.8 mg doses achieved mean reductions in Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) scores of -0.49 and -0.58 respectively, compared to +0.16 in placebo-treated patients.

The company also reported reductions in Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM), with the 1.2 mg and 1.8 mg doses achieving mean reductions of -3.04 and -3.67 kPa respectively, versus -0.12 kPa in the placebo group.

Altimmune emphasized the drug’s favorable tolerability profile, with adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation occurring in 0% and 1.2% of patients treated with pemvidutide 1.2 mg and 1.8 mg respectively, compared to 3.5% of participants on placebo.

The company plans to advance pemvidutide to a Phase 3 trial in 2026 following a productive End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA, which resulted in alignment on parameters for a registrational trial in MASH patients with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis.

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