Momenta Stock Jumps Nearly 10% On Positive Late-stage Results For Humira Biosimilar

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares jumped 9.7% in pre-market trade Tuesday after the company said a phase 3 clinical trial for its Humira biosimilar met its primary endpoint. The drug, M923, is being developed with Shire's Baxalta for patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Momenta said that the percentage of patients in the study that met the primary endpoint was equal to that of Humira and that the difference in responders confirmed equivalence. The first biosimilar version of AbbVie's Humira -- worth $14 billion, it is the world's top selling treatment -- was approved in late September. Biosimilars are a class of drugs that mimic existing treatments and are expected to save the U.S. health care system as much as $250 billion by introducing competition into the pricey biologics drug market. Momenta said that Shire, which is ending its biosimilars program, plans to transition M923 to Momenta. Momenta shares dropped 6.3% year-to-date, compared with a 7.7% rise in the S&P 500 .