Daily newsletter · Tue 20 Oct 2026
Disc Medicine rose 38.86% after its drug for a painful reaction to sunlight passed a final-stage trial
Disc Medicine closed Monday at US$78.93, up 38.86%. Its drug, bitopertin, met every goal it was set in a final-stage trial of 183 patients, and the company is now worth about US$3 billion.
So what does the drug treat? Erythropoietic protoporphyria, or EPP, is a rare genetic disorder in which sunlight causes severe pain, swelling and sometimes blistering. Disc counts about 14,000 diagnosed patients in the US aged 12 and over. Only one treatment, Scenesse, is approved there, and there is no cure.
Over six months, patients on bitopertin gained an average of 12.2 extra hours a month in daylight without pain, compared with those on a placebo. The drug also cut the compound that builds up in the blood and causes the reactions by 41.4%.
This is Disc's second attempt at approval. In February the US Food and Drug Administration turned bitopertin down and asked to see this trial first. Disc now plans to refile by the end of 2026, and it expects a decision by the middle of 2027.
half the patients taking bitopertin reported dizziness, which Disc says was mild to moderate and passed. A second rejection would cost the company at least another year, so the mid-2027 ruling is the date that matters.
More in
All stories →- Wednesday 14 October Johnson & Johnson beat on profit and fell 5.73% over medical devices
General information and commentary only, not financial advice. It does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs, and reflects the author's own reading of public information at the time of writing, which may be wrong. Sharespective, its people and its clients may hold positions in the companies covered. Do your own research and talk to a licensed adviser.