Why Zafgen Is Trading Higher By 40%

Shares of Zafgen Inc (NASDAQ: ZFGN), a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies for patients affected by obesity and complex metabolic disorders, were trading higher by nearly 40 percent at $7.80 early Wednesday morning.

Zafgen announced after Tuesday's market positive efficacy results from its bestPWS ZAF-311 study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial evaluating the the safety and efficacy of beloranib, a MetAP2 inhibitor, in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) during a six-month randomized treatment period.

Zafgen stated that the clinical trial achieved its co-primary efficacy endpoints as beloranib demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in body weight and hyperphagia-related behaviors.

Zafgen noted: "Treatment with the 2.4 mg and the 1.8 mg doses of beloranib resulted in 9.45 percent (p<0.0001) and 8.20 percent (p<0.0001) reductions in body weight relative to placebo, respectively. Treatment with the 2.4 mg and the 1.8 mg doses of beloranib also resulted in reductions of hyperphagia-related behaviors of 7.0 units (p=0.0001) and 6.3 units (p=0.0003) relative to placebo, respectively, as measured by the Hyperphagia Questionnaire for Clinical Trials (HQ-CT)."

"This clear efficacy outcome is a crucial first step in moving discussions forward with the Food and Drug Administration regarding continued development of beloranib," stated Thomas Hughes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Zafgen. "While we take the previously reported adverse events very seriously, we now have the robust data to provide greater perspective on the benefit/risk relationship of beloranib in this high-risk patient population."

Zafgen also added that the company plans to continue its dialog with the FDA following the trial results.

Zafgen has scheduled a conference call to discuss the results for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.