BUZZ - MoonLake shares surge as AbbVie's skin disease drug data eases market concerns around competition

October 22 - ** Shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX.O) rose 21.7% to $12.96

** The share price increase was driven by AbbVie (ABBV.N) releasing late-stage clinical trial data for its dermatology drug lutikizumab, which showed efficacy for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) (link) improved only 8% over the placebo group

** MoonLake is developing sonelokimab, a dual IL-17A/F inhibitor targeting the same chronic inflammatory skin condition

** Wedbush analyst Yun Zhong said AbbVie's data was "disappointing," affirming that sonelokimab could be the "superior treatment option," and noted that the share price surge reflects optimism that "potential competitive pressure has eased"

** Cantor analysts commented, “For MLTX, this is clearly a short-term positive, given the competitive threat from AbbVie’s drug may be diminished”

** Including the day's move, MLTX is down 1.6% year to date

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