InterMune rockets on positive clinical data

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.4 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2013, lower than expected, according to revised U.S. government estimates. The 16 day government shutdown and severe weather hampered growth. Overall, the economy averaged just 1.9 percent growth in 2013, compared to 2.8 percent growth in 2012. First quarter growth is expected to be below 2 percent. At the same time, the government reported that consumer sentiment rose in February and sales of existing homes were up. The mixed news did not move the markets appreciably. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week up 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 was up 1.3 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1 percent. Biotech, which has been outperforming the general indices, gave up some of its gains. The Burrill Biotech Select Index fell 2 percent for the week, but it gained 8.9 percent in February and is up 17.9 percent year to date.

Shares of InterMune skyrocketed 170.8 percent after the biotech reported positive top-line data from a late-stage trial evaluating pirfenidone in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis that met the primary and two secondary endpoints showing that the experimental treatment significantly reduced progression of a disease that leads to scarring of the lungs. The treatment, known as Esbriet, is marketed in Europe but had been rejected by U.S. regulators who had asked for another trial. InterMune ended the week up 118.2 percent.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, a developer of anti-inflammatory treatments with an experimental therapy in late-stage testing to treat inflammation of the knee due to osteoarthritis, ended the week down 20.7 percent. Shares of the company fell after it priced a follow-on offering of 8.5 million shares at a 13 percent discount to its trading price.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved AstraZeneca's Myalept, the first therapy for treating complications associated with a hormonal deficiency that can lead to insulin resistance and pancreatic damage.

A study of one of the first, largest, and longest-running multi-payer pilots of patient-centered medical home medical practices in the United States has found that quality improvements were limited, and that it didn't save money over the three years of the program.      

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Abide Therapeutics entered into a strategic collaboration with Celgene to discover and develop new drugs in inflammation and immunology. The partners will use Abide's technology to selectively target serine hydrolases, one of the largest enzyme families involved in regulating human physiology.