Shares of Scholar Rock Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SRRK) skyrocketed as much as 35% early Thursday, then settled to trade up 13.7% as of 3 p.m. ET after the company announced an expansion into treatments for cardiometabolic disorders. Scholar Rock simultaneously announced pricing for an upsized offering of common stock after the market closed yesterday.

In a press release late Wednesday, Scholar Rock announced it will advance the development of its obesity treatment, dubbed SRK-439, based on preclinical data supporting the move. The company said it plans to initiate a phase 2 proof-of-concept trial in 2024, with a data readout expected in mid-2025 to inform further clinical development of SRK-439. Assuming all goes as planned, Scholar Rock will work toward an investigational new drug application (IND) submission in 2025.

"As a longstanding leader in targeting myostatin with a highly selective antibody platform, we are excited to advance our cardiometabolic program," stated Scholar Rock CEO Jay Backstrom, M.D., M.P.H. in a press release. "We have discovered multiple, highly selective myostatin inhibitors and see potential with SRK-439 to retain lean muscle mass, a concern that is commonly associated with weight loss strategies, including treatments currently on the market for obesity, a common, serious, and costly public health issue affecting adults and children globally."

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Source Fool.com