Shares of 89bio Inc. ETNB, +3.76% gained 12.8% in premarket trading on Friday, the day after the company provided promising updates for pegozafermin, which is being evaluated as a treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and severe hypertriglyceridemia. 89bio said it expects to have topline data from the Phase 2 study for severe hypertriglyceridemia in the second quarter. Data from the Phase 2b trial for a NASH indication is expected in the first half of next year. “Pegozafermin [is] well-positioned as a potentially best-in-class [NASH] compound based on the drug’s competitive efficacy profile and emerging differentiation on safety/tolerability and dosing frequency,” SVB Leerink analyst Thomas Smith wrote in a note on Thursday. RBC Capital’s Brian Abrahams told investors that he believes there is a $450 million opportunity if the drug is approved as a treatment for severe hypertriglyceridemia. 89bio’s stock has tumbled 69.4% so far this year, while the broader S&P 500 SPX, +0.51% is down 5.1%.
