Pfizer Pauses Gene Therapy Trial for Muscle Disease After Death

Pfizer Inc. paused a study of an experimental gene therapy for muscular dystrophy after a child who received it died suddenly.

The patient, a young boy, suffered a cardiac arrest after receiving Pfizer’s one-time treatment last year, the company said in an email. The boy was part of a mid-stage study, now concluded, that enrolled children between the ages of 2 and 4, the company said.

Pfizer has paused administering the same gene therapy in a separate, final-stage study while it investigates the boy’s death, the company said. That study is looking at the gene therapy, called fordadistrogene movaparvovec, to ...