A treatment for ATTR-CM, a heart condition, failed its clinical trial on Friday, and the fallout reached beyond the company that ran the test. AstraZeneca disclosed that its drug Wainua did not meet the study's goals, and some analysts used the result to argue that silencers, the class of medicine Alnylam sells and Wainua belongs to, offer no added benefit when a patient is already taking a drug called a stabilizer. Some went further, suggesting stabilizers may be the superior class.
That reading matters to Alnylam, and the company is mounting a defense of silencers. The response carries implications for two of its drugs. Amvuttra is already on the market. Nucresiran is Alnylam's next-generation treatment in the same class, and both are now drawn into a debate that AstraZeneca's trial result set off.