Shares of Maze Therapeutics catapulted Thursday after its experimental treatment for a rare, genetic disease blew past the company's own expectations.
Leerink Partners analyst Joseph Schwartz said Maze could have a best-in-class treatment for phenylketonuria, or PKU. In this condition, the body can't break down phenylalanine, an essential amino acid. The buildup of phenylalanine can lead to intellectual disability, seizures, small head size, skin and hair problems, and behavioral issues.
Maze tested different dosing strategies of its drug, MZE782, in 112 healthy adults. Then, the company measured how much phenylalanine was excreted in their urine. After 24 hours, patients who received a single 960-milligram dose had a 39-fold increase in phenylalanine excretion. Another group was given twice-daily 240-milligram doses and experienced a 42-fold increase after seven days.
Those numbers smashed Maze Therapeutics' own expectations for a 10-fold increase in phenylalanine excretion for PKU patients. The company is also planning to develop MZE782 as a treatment for chronic kidney disease.
On today's stock market, Maze Therapeutics shares surged 54.8% to 24.80. Shares hit a record high after breaking out of a consolidation with a buy point at 19.19, its previous intraday high point.
Private Placement
"Overall, these results with Maze's MZE782 suggest a best-in-class profile, in our view, and we think this program will start to get more credit from investors," Schwartz said.
Notably, there were no serious adverse events and no treatment-related side effects that led to patients discontinuing the single ascending dose part of the study. Two patients reported headaches and a third had diarrhea, Schwartz said. There were no side effects in the multiple ascending doses group.
Separately, the company announced a $150 million private placement. Both new and existing investors participated, including Frazier Life Sciences, Deep Track Capital, Driehaus Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, TCGX, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
The placement will be for roughly 4 million shares at $16.25 per share. Some Maze Therapeutics investors also bought about 5.2 million shares at $16.249 per funded warrant.
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