Corcept shares jump on promising PhIII data

Shares of Corcept Therapeutics shot up after the developer announced it had reaped some promising top-line data points from its Phase III study of a new drug for Cushing's syndrome.

Shares of Corcept Therapeutics shot up after the developer announced it had reaped some promising top-line data points from its Phase III study of a new drug for Cushing's syndrome, leaving the Menlo Park, CA-based biotech on track to file for regulatory approval in the first quarter.

Investigators report that 60 percent of the patients with glucose intolerance responded to Corlux, and a 43 percent response rate was tracked in a hypertensive group. Cushing's syndrome is caused by prolonged exposure of the body's tissues to high levels of the hormone cortisol and is generated by tumors that produce cortisol or ACTH. Only 50 patients were recruited for the study, which is not unusual for an orphan indication.

In the glucose-intolerant group, a responder was defined as a patient who achieved a 25 percent or greater improvement in glucose tolerance at 24 weeks compared to baseline. In the hypertension group, a responder was defined as a patient who achieved a five mi