Silence Therapeutics touted Phase 1 data from an ongoing study Thursday morning in patients with a rare disease where their bone marrow produces too many red blood cells.
The results, which come from a study that remains ongoing, were enough to support the start of a Phase 2 trial launch before the end of 2024, the UK biotech said. One of the study’s goals is to reduce the frequency at which patients get their blood drawn, also known as a phlebotomy.
The company’s stock $SLN went up by as much as 5% at market open.
Silence enrolled a small number of polycythemia vera patients with both “well-controlled” red blood cell counts and patients with high red blood cell counts. None of the eight well-controlled patients needed a phlebotomy, while two of eight with high blood cell counts needed one phlebotomy each.
The drug, called divesiran, is an siRNA program wholly owned by Silence. The biotech has put out a steady drumbeat of clinical trial data in recent months for other programs designed to treat cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol.