Sarepta shares slump after third patient death this year
Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics 
SRPT declined 17% in early trading on Friday after another patient who had received an experimental gene therapy died, deepening investor concerns over the use of the company's treatments.
Sarepta said a 51-year-old man enrolled in an early-stage trial of gene therapy, SRP-9004, for the treatment of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) died from acute liver failure last month.
It said that liver issues were not a new safety signal from the trial of SRP-9004, which is among the several programs the company said it was halting on Wednesday.
This is the third death this year for Sarepta after two teenage boys who had received Elevidys, a gene therapy approved to treat a rare condition called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, died of liver failure.
The news of the latest death in Sarepta trial was first reported by pharma website BioCentury on Thursday evening, a day after the company announced 500 job cuts and halted development of several gene therapies for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.
At the time, Sarepta said the program cuts were a financial decision and that it hopes to find partners for the studies, without disclosing any details of the third patient death.
The lack of disclosure during the Wednesday announcement could increase investor distrust, said William Blair analyst Sami Corwin.
The company, which hosted another investor call on Friday, said it had prioritized disclosing the trial patient death to clinicians and regulators, in accordance with guidelines for clinical studies.
Wall Street analysts said that the death could amplify patient hesitancy to use Elevidys, given that both this and SRP-9004 use the same delivery vehicle known as adeno-associated virus vector.
Sarepta on Wednesday also disclosed it was adding a serious warning on the label of Elevidys for the risk of acute liver injury and liver failure in DMD patients who can walk.
LGMD includes a group of genetic disorders that primarily weaken the hip and shoulder muscles.
