By Elias Schisgall
Shares of Immunovant surged in premarket trading Wednesday after the company reported positive preliminary trial data for its IMVT-1402 drug candidate in rheumatoid arthritis, despite widening its loss in the fourth quarter.
Shares were up 27% to $33.30 in trading before the bell. The stock closed Wednesday down 0.9% at $26.29, up 3.4% this year.
The clinical-stage immunology company on Wednesday said that 73% of patients in the rheumatoid arthritis trial experienced at least a 20% improvement in tender and swollen joint count after 16 weeks, with 55% seeing at least a 50% improvement and 36% seeing at least a 70% improvement.
Patients who experienced at least a 20% improvement will receive one of two dosing levels or a placebo in the second period of the trial for 12 weeks, the company said.
Immunovant is also conducting potentially registrational trials for the treatment in other diseases, including Graves' disease, Generalized Myasthenia Gravis, and Sjogren's disease. The company said its cash position supports a runway to launch IMVT-1402 in Graves' disease.
Further data from the rheumatoid arthritis study and topline data from a proof-of-concept trial for IMVT-1402 in Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus are expected in the second half of this year, the company said.
The company last month said that a pair of trials for a separate thyroid eye disease treatment candidate failed to meet their primary endpoints. On Wednesday, it said it had discontinued that development program to focus on IMVT-1402.
Immunovant also posted a fourth-quarter loss of $147.9 million, or 73 cents a share, a year earlier, compared with a loss of $106.4 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a loss of 59 cents a share.
Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 08:33 ET (12:33 GMT)
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