Shares of EnteroMedics Inc. soared 108 percent Tuesday on positive news about the Roseville company's unique obesity-fighting medical device.
Two patient studies indicated that the company's Maestro System "shows our technology works and we're here to stay," said Chief Financial Officer Greg Lea. One of the top movers on Wall Street Tuesday, EnteroMedics' shares closed at 60 cents, up 31 cents.
EnteroMedics has developed an implanted pacemaker-like device that sends intermittent electrical impulses to the vagus nerve, which tells the brain when the stomach is empty. The technology blocks impulses that make people overeat.
The company maintains that the device is far less invasive than bariatric surgery.
The product is approved in Europe, and the company had planned to launch it in the United States next year. But last October, the company's plans were derailed when it announced that a 294-patient pivotal study failed to meet its primary endpoint, or goal.
The company's stock plummeted and has languished ever since, at least until Tuesday. It remains well short of where it stood before the setback: shares traded as high as $5.40 in September.
EnteroMedics said interim data in a 28-patient study using the second-generation device showed improved glucose and blood pressure levels in enrollees, who are obese and diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Weight loss was "clinically meaningful," a term that was not quantified in the company's statement.
The study, which is being conducted outside the United States, is ongoing.
