Pasadena-based biopharmaceutical company Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Feb. 5 that it had achieved “promising” interim results from early clinical trials for two of its drugs based on its gene silencing drug platform. The announcement came at the same time as the company’s first fiscal quarter earnings release.

The drugs — one to treat high triglyceride fat levels and the other to treat metabolic disorders — are in Phase 1 early-stage trials. Both drugs are based on Arrowhead’s platform that uses RNA messenger molecules to “silence” genes that would otherwise express themselves in diseases or disorders.

“The interim results from the multiple-dose portion of the Phase 1 studies of Arrowhead’s cardiometabolic candidates … are highly encouraging and support our belief that RNAi may be the optimal mechanism to inhibit (these conditions),” Javier San Martin, Arrowhead’s chief medical officer, said in the announcement.

Simultaneously, Arrowhead released earnings for its first fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31. The company reported a loss of $2.67 million, down from a positive reading of $12 million for the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter was $29.4 million, down from $34.6 million for the same quarter a year earlier.

The earnings loss was a bit less than the $6 million loss consensus estimate figure from analysts prior to the earnings release, according to website Seeking Alpha.

Immediately following the earnings release, Arrowhead stock ticked up 5% in after-hours trading on Feb. 5 to $46.55. But the stock fell back on Feb. 6, closing at $41.10 for a drop of 6% from market close on Feb. 5.

The stock had skyrocketed last year, rising a whopping 411% for the year to close Dec. 31 at $63.43, making it the largest percentage gainer on the LABJ stock index. However, since reaching a peak of $73 on Nov. 25, the stock has lost about 40% of its value as profit-taking set in. That said, the share price is still nearly three times higher than where it stood a year ago.