This was reported a few days after the company announced poor and long-awaited Phase III clinical trial results for a heart disease drug, which were also worse than expected.
Novartis shares in Zurich fell 9.2% on Tuesday after their price dropped nearly 2% on Monday.
The company announced on Tuesday that its drug deldesiran, intended to treat type 1 myotonic dystrophy (DM1), which had also reached the final third phase of trials, “did not show a statistically significant improvement compared to placebo.” This was one of three main drugs that Novartis acquired earlier this year for $12 billion by purchasing the California-based company Avidity Biosciences.
The drug was expected to become a bestseller and generate $3 billion in annual revenue.
Regarding the cardiovascular drug pelacarsen, Novartis hoped it would help combat elevated lipoprotein (a) levels – a genetic condition that causes arterial atherosclerosis and inflammation.
“These are not the results we expected,” said the company’s chief medical officer Shreeram Aradhye in a statement.
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