Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc said an analysis by an independent safety committee showed that its liver disease drug met the main goal of a mid-stage trial, sending the company's shares soaring.
Intercept shares more than doubled to $169 in premarket trading on Thursday.
The company said it had stopped the trial after the committee found that the drug, obeticholic acid, showed statistically significant improvement in patients, compared with a placebo.
Nasdaq-listed Intercept said the committee made the recommendation after reviewing liver biopsy data from about half of the 283 patients enrolled in the trial.
The trial tested the drug in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a form of liver inflammation caused by a build-up of fat.
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