Shares in Monte Rosa Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GLUE) climbed around 13% after the company released encouraging interim results from a Phase 1 study of its experimental drug MRT-8102, pointing to a marked reduction in inflammation among individuals at elevated risk of cardiovascular disease.
The clinical-stage biotech said its molecular glue degrader achieved an 85% reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) levels after four weeks of treatment. In addition, 94% of participants recorded CRP readings below 2 mg/L, a level commonly associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events.
MRT-8102, which is designed to target the NEK7 protein, delivered robust and sustained NEK7 degradation across a wide dosing range of 5 mg to 400 mg in both single ascending dose and multiple ascending dose cohorts. The company reported that the treatment was generally well tolerated, with only mild to moderate adverse events observed and no signs of an increased risk of infection.
Commenting on the findings, Filip Janku, Chief Medical Officer of Monte Rosa Therapeutics, said: “Based on the highly encouraging data for MRT-8102 we have observed so far, we are expanding our proof-of-concept GFORCE-1 study in subjects with elevated CVD risk, in order to accelerate the anticipated Phase 2 (GFORCE-2) study of MRT-8102 in ASCVD.”
Looking ahead, Monte Rosa said it plans to release additional data from the ongoing GFORCE-1 study in the second half of 2026 and expects to begin a Phase 2 trial in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease later that year. Beyond cardiovascular indications, the company is also exploring the potential of MRT-8102 in other conditions, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, gout and recurrent pericarditis.