Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ shares soared after the Cambridge biotech released positive clinical data on an experimental treatment for cystic fibrosis. Vertex said a midstage study of its VX-661 drug candidate in combination with its approved cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco “showed statistically significant improvements in lung function” among adults with two copies of a common cystic fibrosis regulator gene mutation. The disease causes mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract.
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