ChemoCentryx soars 89% after FDA approves first drug in a decade to treat autoimmune disease vasculitis

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

• ChemoCentryx stock shot up by 89% in heavy volume Friday after FDA approval of its drug to treat vasculitis.
• ANCA vasculitis is a rare autoimmune disease that can lead to organ failure and death.
• The boom in ChemoCentryx shares reduces their loss so far for 2021.

ChemoCentryx stock nearly doubled Friday after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its medication for ANCA vasculitis, the first time in a decade there's been regulatory clearance for a drug to treat the rare autoimmune disease.

Shares soared as much as 89% to $37 then trimmed the rise to 68%. Volume was hefty at more than 57 million shares exchanged compared with 1.8 million shares that usually trade daily. The surge reduced the year-to-date loss for ChemoCentryx stock but it's still about 50% below its highs from February.

The biopharmaceutical company's avacopan capsules will be marketed under the name Tavneos and will treat adults with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitides, which can be fatal if not treated.

The systemic autoimmune disease spurs further activation of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, leading to inflammation and eventual destruction of small blood vessels.

Organ damage and failure can follow, with the kidney as the major target of ANCA-associated vasculitis.

The FDA's approval was supported by results from a global phase 3 study that monitored 330 patients in 20 countries. The study met its primary endpoints of disease remission at 26 weeks and sustained remission at 52 weeks, said ChemoCentryx.

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