Savara’s Rare Lung Disease Therapy Meets Main Goal in Late-stage Study

(Reuters) -Savara said on Wednesday its experimental therapy met the main goal of a late-stage trial by improving a measure of lung function in patients with a rare disease that causes breathing difficulties, sending its shares up 31%.

The therapy is being developed to treat patients with autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP), which can lead to shortness of breath, cause scarring in the lungs and even lead to a need for a lung transplant.

The disease is estimated to affect less than 5,000 people in the United States, according to government data.

Savara’s inhaled therapy, molgramostim, helped improve a measure of lung capacity that tracks the ability of the lungs to transfer gas from inhaled air to red blood cells in blood capillaries in the lung, compared with a placebo.

Molgramostim was well-tolerated and the frequency of adverse events was generally similar between treatment groups, the drug developer said.

Savara plans to submit a marketing application for the therapy in the first half of 2025.

(Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Devika Syamnath)