Intercept Shares Rise as Drug Sales Recover After Patient Deaths

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose to the highest level since September after the company reported increasing sales of its potential blockbuster Ocaliva, a drug previously linked by U.S. officials to the death of 19 people.

Sales of Ocaliva, which is approved to treat a rare liver disease called primary biliary cholangitis, climbed to $43.2 million in the second quarter, the New York-based drugmaker said Aug. 2. That beat analysts’ estimates of $40.3 million, and was up $8 million from the previous quarter.

In September, Intercept reported 10 deaths in people who had taken the drug. Shortly after, the U.S. Food and ...