Shares of the UK's Neuropharm took a nasty beating after the biotech reported that its late-stage trial for an experimental autism therapy flunked its primary endpoint. With analysts all but writing off the drug's future prospects, investors ripped out a 66 percent chunk of its stock value.
According to researchers, NPL-2008 failed to demonstrate a significant reduction in repetitive behavior in autistic patients when compared to a placebo arm. A total of 158 patients, aged between 5 and 17, were enrolled into the SOFIA study in which patients received either NPL-2008 or placebo during a 14-week treatment period.
Piper Jaffray's verdict: "In our view, the failure of a well-designed U.S. Phase III trial makes it unlikely that NPL-2008 will receive U.S. regulatory approval for autism, unless further analysis of the primary and secondary endpoints shows statistically significant differences."
"These initial results are both unexpected and disappointing, and we await the results of the full analysis which is currently ongoing," said Chief Executive Robert Mansfield.
- check out Neuropharm's release