By DAMIAN GARDE @damiangarde

Thirty patients have died after taking a Vertex (VRTX) Pharmaceuticals treatment for cystic fibrosis, according to a government database, news that sent the company’s share price down as much as 4% on Wednesday morning.

The deaths, reported to the Food and Drug Administration’s database of side effects, relate to patients who took Symdeko, a Vertex medicine approved last year. Reports to the database are commonly submitted by health care professionals and often contain incomplete information about how patients died and what other medicines they were taking. It’s also unclear whether any of the deaths are directly related to Symdeko.

In a statement, Vertex said it has no evidence linking the use of Symdeko with the reported deaths and that it has received no communication from the FDA about the drug’s safety.

Word of the deaths spread through Wall Street back channels Wednesday morning, leading to a flash crash on heavy trading volume. By midday, Vertex had recovered all of its paper losses. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff said he found the “timing of this short rumor to be suspicious during a quiet, end-of-summer week.”

Symdeko is the most recent of Vertex’s three approved treatments for cystic fibrosis. The drug, tailored for specific genetic subtypes of the rare disease, is also the backbone of a combination cystic fibrosis therapy now under FDA review.

Symdeko has quickly become Vertex’s most lucrative product, bringing in $362 million for the company in the second quarter. It carries a list price of $292,000 per year.

About the Author

Damian Garde

National Biotech Reporter

Damian covers biotech and writes The Readout [email protected]@damiangarde