Synergy Pharmaceuticals bowel drug succeeds in key study

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc said its experimental oral drug, plecanatide, met the main goal of a late-stage study on irritable bowel syndrome patients with constipation (IBS-C), according to an analysis of preliminary data.

Both doses of the drug outperformed a placebo in patients who were overall responders, or those whose abdominal pain was reduced by 30 percent or more and whose spontaneous bowel movements increased at least once in the same week, for at least half of the 12 treatment weeks, Synergy Pharma said.

The company's stock was halted in premarket trading.