Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. said Friday that two clinical trials showed its "ultrafast" insulin worked as well as an older insulin replacement for patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Halozyme said in both trials, its insulin worked as well as Eli Lilly and Co.'s insulin Humalog at controlling blood sugar levels. The company said its PH20 insulin was more effective than Humalog at reducing patients' blood sugar levels after meals. It said rates of hypoglycemia in patients were similar for PH20 insulin and Humalog. Both studies were mid-stage clinical trials and they each involved around 110 patients.
The company said it will explore opportunities to make the insulin available worldwide, suggesting it might form a partnership with a larger drugmaker. Halozyme plans to present complete results from the study in 2012 at major medical conference.
Shares of Halozyme rose 49 cents, or 6.3 percent, to $8.21 in afternoon trading.
The stock jumped 18.6 percent on Tuesday after Halozyme reported successful results from a clinical trial of a version of the breast cancer drug Herceptin that Halozyme is developing along with Swiss drugmaker Roche. The companies are studying an injectable version of Roche's drug Herceptin, and said the injectable version worked as well as the older IV version. The injection can be given in about five minutes, compared to about 30 minutes for the IV form.
