Intercept Liver Therapy Needs Safety Review, Researchers Say
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Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s much-anticipated experimental liver drug raised bad cholesterol and caused itching in some patients, spurring the need for more safety studies, researchers said. The shares fell after the company said it may need to consider a lower dose.
Patients who received Intercept’s drug, obeticholic acid, for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, had significantly more bad cholesterol than those on a placebo, according to a study of 283 patients published in the journal Lancet.