Business Corpus: This Biotech Broke Out Bullishly On Its Experimental Hepatitis B DrugArrowhead Pharmaceuticals broke out in bullish fashion Thursday on strong data for a study of its hepatitis B treatment. The post This Biotech Broke Out Bullishly On Its Experimental Hepatitis B Drug appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) broke out in bullish fashion Thursday on strong data for a study of its hepatitis B treatment.

In afternoon trading on the stock market today Arrowhead stock rocketed 42.2%, near 20.10, after earlier flying as much as 58.8% in high volume. Shares touched a four-year high and broke out of a consolidation with a buy point at 17.60.

Patients received 100-milligram or 200-milligram doses of the hepatitis B treatment. In the first group, patients saw an average 99% reduction of HBsAg — a key marker of the infection — on day 85. The second group had a 96% cut in HBsAg on day 71.

"The magnitude of HBsAg reduction with infrequent monthly dosing is impressive," Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff said in a note to clients. "Importantly, the response was observed in a broad population."

Identifying Key Antigens

HBsAg is an antigen in the blood that indicates hepatitis B infection. Another antigen, called HBeAg, in the blood indicates that the hepatitis B virus is actively replicating.

Some patients no longer have the HBeAg antigen due to a mutation. This group of patients is considered harder to treat. Medical guidelines suggest these patients face a lifetime commitment of taking antiviral medicine, the Hepatitis B Foundation says.

But Arrowhead's hepatitis B treatment worked in a broad group of patients regardless of HBeAg antigen status, Tenthoff said. Further, safety appeared clean across 10 groups of patients, comprising 40 total.

Treatment Well Tolerated

Among the eight patients who received 100-milligram and 200-milligram doses, the maximum reduction of HBsAg was 99.99%, Arrowhead said in a press release. At a minimum, patients experienced a 93% cut.

The next update for the data will likely be in early November during an American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases meeting.

Tenthoff kept his overweight rating and price target of 17 on Arrowhead stock.

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The post This Biotech Broke Out Bullishly On Its Experimental Hepatitis B Drug appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.