Investing.com -- Scholar Rock Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SRRK) stock surged 16.4% after the company announced positive results from its Phase 2 EMBRAZE trial evaluating apitegromab in combination with tirzepatide for preserving lean muscle mass during weight loss.
The late-stage biopharmaceutical company reported that apitegromab therapy (10 mg/kg) preserved an additional 4.2 pounds (1.9 kilograms) or 54.9% (p=0.001) of lean mass compared to tirzepatide alone. The trial showed that 30% of total weight loss with tirzepatide alone was due to lean mass loss, suggesting apitegromab could lead to higher quality weight loss.
"We are pleased that the EMBRAZE trial accomplished its objective by achieving its primary endpoint. The results validated our hypothesis that our platform of highly selective myostatin inhibitors has the potential to support healthier weight loss for millions of patients on GLP therapies by safely preserving lean mass," said Akshay Vaishnaw, M.D., Ph.D., President of R&D at Scholar Rock.
The 24-week study involved patients with obesity or overweight conditions who were randomized into two treatment arms: apitegromab with tirzepatide and placebo with tirzepatide. The combination therapy demonstrated that only 14.6% of total mass loss was due to lean mass loss, compared to 30.2% in the tirzepatide-only group.
Safety results were encouraging, with no serious adverse events or discontinuations considered related to apitegromab treatment. The incidence of adverse events was generally similar between the apitegromab and placebo groups.
Despite these positive results, Scholar Rock emphasized that its primary focus remains on preparing for the potential launch of apitegromab in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and studying it in other neuromuscular diseases with high unmet need.
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