Health
Verve Falls as Gene-Editing Trial Paused on Safety Issues
- Company blames delivery method for patients’ abnormal lab test
- Verve to prioritize development of second treatment approach
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Verve Therapeutics Inc. shares tumbled after it cited safety concerns for pausing enrollment in a study of its gene-editing treatment for people with high cholesterol, delivering a setback to the promising new field of medicine.
The Boston, Massachusetts-based company said the experimental approach lowered cholesterol levels in the first five participants who received a certain dose in the early-stage study, but the sixth developed abnormal liver enzymes and thrombocytopenia, a condition involving low blood platelet counts. The shares fell as much as 34% when US markets opened Tuesday.