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Adds Sarepta share movement in paragraph 2, analyst comment in paragraph 3, and updates share movement throughout

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Shares of drug developer Dyne Therapeutics DYN.Ojumped 18% on Wednesday after its experimental therapy for a muscle-wasting disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD) showed promise in a small, early-stage trial.

The early findings from therapy designated DYNE-251 weighed down on rival Sarepta Therapeutics SRPT.O, which makes several drugs to treat the condition, pushing its shares down 2.1% to $94.19 after the markets opened.

Stifel analyst Paul Matteis said in a note that DMD data shows a promising start, as the dose is smaller and efficacy is better than Sarepta's drug.

In the early-to-mid-stage study, Dyne's therapy increased levels of a protein in muscle cells by 0.28% at six months in six patients with DMD.

This compares to a 0.06% increase in the levels of dystrophin protein, which helps keep muscles intact, after treatment with Sarepta's Exondys 51.

In a separate study, another experimental drug called DYNE-101 helped increase muscle concentration in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1, another muscle-wasting disease that impacts mobility, breathing and heart function and has no approved treatments.

DMD affects an estimated one-in-3,500 male births worldwide, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

DYNE-251 and Exondys 51 belong to a class of "exon-skipping" therapies, which work by skipping specific parts of genes, called exons, to allow the body to make shorter forms of the dystrophin protein.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Dyne had a market capitalization of $801.6 million as of Tuesday's closing price of $13.06. Its shares were trading at $15.60 in early trading after more than doubling during premarket hours.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

((Puyaan.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))

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