Insmed Awarded $2.1 Million by Muscular Dystrophy A...( RICHMOND Va. Dec. 12 /- Insmed In...)

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Insmed Inc. (Nasdaq: INSM), today announced that it has been awarded a grant of $2,087,325 from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The grant is expected to cover a substantial portion of the external costs associated with Insmed's 24-week Phase 3 enabling trial in patients with Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (MMD).

Insmed, a development stage biopharmaceutical company with extensive expertise in biologics and orphan drug development, decided to initiate the Phase 3 enabling trial based on promising results from an ongoing open-label, dose-escalation trial of IPLEX(TM) in MMD. To date, up to 70% of patients have reported improvements in one or more of several symptoms commonly associated with Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy. Furthermore, patients undergoing a standardized 6 minute walk test, a well accepted FDA endpoint for endurance, have significantly improved their walking distance (p<0.03).

"The Muscular Dystrophy Association is pleased to announce its support for IPLEX(TM), which shows early stage promise in this debilitating disease, and we look forward to working closely with Insmed to further its clinical testing," said Sharon Hesterlee, MDA, VP of Translational Research for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"We are delighted to have a well-respected organization such as the MDA take an active role in the development of IPLEX(TM) for this important indication," said Geoffrey Allan Ph.D., Insmed's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe third party commitments such as this clearly demonstrate the significance of our results to date and the validity of this approach to treat patients with this severely debilitating disease."

About the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)

The Muscular Dystrophy Association http://www.mda.org is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through
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