Why uniQure's Stock Price Jumped Today

After gene-therapy specialist uniQure (NASDAQ: QURE) reported positive interim results from a phase 1/2 clinical trial early Thursday, its stock surged, gaining 18.5% as of 10:54 a.m. ET. That gene therapy, AMT-130, is intended to treat Huntington's disease, and per the latest update, it appears to have an acceptable side effect profile when used at a low dose. Even 12 months after treatment, there weren't any serious adverse events linked to it among the six patients receiving the treatment in the low-dose cohort of the study.

The company also reported some early evidence suggesting that the medicine could be effective at reducing the levels of certain disease-linked biomarkers. The report did not address whether patients in the trials actually experienced fewer symptoms as of yet.

AMT-130 is uniQure's most mature wholly-owned pipeline program, though it does have another treatment in phase 3 trials that it's pursuing with the help of a research and development collaborator. So Thursday's update means that the biotech is one step closer to generating revenue from sales and becoming profitable without outside help.

Source Fool.com