Sarepta shares slump after report of patient death in early-stage study

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics SRPT declined 16.5% to $18.32 in premarket trading on Friday after a Bloomberg report that a patient enrolled in an early-stage study of one of the company's gene therapies has died from acute liver failure.

The latest death marks the third treatment-related fatality this year. Two teenage boys have died after receiving Sarepta's Elevidys, a gene therapy approved to treat a rare muscular dystrophy.

Sarepta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of its business hours.

The patient was enrolled in a study testing Sarepta's gene therapy to treat another muscle-wasting disorder called limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, according to the Bloomberg report, which cited a company spokesperson.