By Sara Sjolin SRPT
4846444210a12p2p4p6pLONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. /quotes/zigman/10874508/quotes/nls/srpt SRPT +0.17% , a developer of innovative RNA-based therapeutics, were up 21% in premarket trading on Wednesday on the news the company plans to submit a new drug application for the approval of eteplirsen as a treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. "We are encouraged by the feedback from the FDA and believe that data from our ongoing clinical study merits review by the Agency and will be sufficient for an NDA filing," said Chris Garabedian, president and chief executive officer of Sarepta. The company expects to file the application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2014. Scientists hope the drug will allow some muscular dystrophy patients to produce semi-functional dystrophin, instead of a dysfunctional version of the protein. |