UPDATE - Genmab drops psoriasis drug, shares plummet (sic)
COPENHAGEN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Danish biotech firm Genmab (Copenhagen:GEN.CO - News) said on Friday it planned to drop the development of a drug for the treatment of psoriasis after tests showed no significant results, sending its shares down as much as 17.7 percent.
Genmab said a clinical Phase 2 study of 118 patients did not achieve statistically significant results.
"Genmab has no further plans to develop HuMax-CD4 for the treatment of psoriasis," it said in a statement.
Its shares were down 5.7 percent at 50 crowns at 1527 GMT in a flat Copenhagen market after falling as low as 45 crowns.
"We had limited expectations for HuMax-CD4 for psoriasis, and compared to the small amount of money we spent, it was worth finding out if it would be of any value," Genmab CEO Lisa Drakeman told Reuters."Our primary hope for HuMax-CD4 is still cancer."
In September last year, Genmab had to halt the development of the same compound, HuMax-CD4, for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis after it proved ineffective. At that time, the rheumatoid arthritis drug was the company's most advanced product, and the news then erased more than half of Genmab's market value.
In July, the stock recovered somewhat as Genmab announced that U.S. biotech company Amgen (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) would develop drugs from three of its research programmes... |
