March 21 (Reuters) - BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc said preliminary data showed its experimental drug met the main goal of reducing blood phenylalanine in patients with a genetic disorder, in a late-stage study.

The drug, pegvaliase, is being tested against a placebo in patients with phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) deficiency, a disorder diagnosed in about 50,000 patients in the developed world, the company said.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)