Sarepta Shares Rally 10% As Company Names Interim CEO

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. shares rallied more than 10% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the biotech said it has appointed Edward Kaye as interim CEO with immediate effect. Kaye is replacing Christopher Garabedian, who has resigned, also with immediate effect. The company is pushing ahead with regulatory and clinical work needed to gain approval for its lead product candidate, eteplirsen, as well as other drug candidates to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, it said in a statement. "We remain on track in collecting and analyzing the data requested by the FDA necessary for us to submit the eteplirsen New Drug Application in the middle of this year as planned," Kaye said in the statement. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare degenerative muscular disorder that causes muscle loss that can lead to premature death, affects one in about every 3,500 boys born worldwide. Sarepta shares are down 8.2% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.4%.