Verve Therapeutics To Halt Enrollment In Heart-1 Phase 1b Trial Of VERVE-101; Stock Falls

(RTTNews) - Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (VERV) announced on Tuesday that it would stop enrolling participants in its Heart-1 Phase 1b trial of VERVE-101, under its PCSK9 gene therapy program due to an adverse event in the sixth patient who received a 0.45 mg/kg dose. Subsequently, the stock is down 37%.

The company is reviewing the laboratory data and has stated its intention to collaborate with health authorities to determine the next steps for VERVE-101.

Meanwhile, the company is focusing on advancing the development of VERVE-102 and launching the Heart-2 clinical trial in the second quarter of this year. VERVE-102 utilizes the same fundamental editing tools and guide RNA for PCSK9 as VERVE-101, but employs a different lipid nanoparticle delivery method.

VERV is trading on the Nasdaq at $7.97, down 37.72% or $4.82 per share. It has traded between $8.22 and $21.42 in the past 52-week period.