Shares of Durham, NC-based Icagen went into a tailspin this morning after the company announced that it was cutting half of the patients in a pivotal study of its flagship drug on the recommendation of an independent monitoring committee. Icagen stock dropped 77 percent on the news, which indicated that the drug may be effective for a much smaller group of patients than originally believed. No specific reason for the recommendation of the monitoring committee was given, but Icagen noted that it had received no specific safety warnings from the committee. The sickle-cell anemia treatment ICA-17043 will be tested only on patients on a concurrent hydroxyurea therapy, which blocks the abnormal growth of tissue. Only about 10 to 20 percent of sickle cell patients received hydroxyurea therapy.
"We are confident that the recommendations to modify the protocol at this time are in the best interest of maintaining the integrity of the clinical trial," said Dr. Seth Hetherington, senior vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs, in a statement.
- here's the report on Icagen from the News & Observer