Novartis AG Shares Fall as Del-desiran Drug Fails Late-Stage Clinical Trial

Novartis AG shares fell significantly on Tuesday after the company announced that its investigational drug, del-desiran, failed to show a statistically significant improvement over a placebo in a Phase III study for myotonic dystrophy type 1. The drug, which was acquired through a $12 billion purchase of Avidity Biosciences, was intended to treat a muscle-wasting disorder by improving hand opening time. While the drug failed its primary goal, Novartis AG reported evidence of clinical activity in secondary and exploratory outcomes. Shreeram Aradhye, the chief medical officer at Novartis AG, stated that setbacks are part of scientific progress and the company will engage with health authorities to determine the next development path. The failure follows two other recent setbacks for the company, including the failure of pelacarsen to reduce cardiovascular risk and the suspension of eight clinical trials for the cell therapy rap-cel after three patients died. Analysts have noted that the del-desiran result may cast doubt on the company's acquisition strategy and its ability to meet long-term sales growth targets. Despite the setback, Novartis AG reiterated its goal of 5% to 6% average annual sales growth through 2030.

Sources

• CNBC
  Pharma major Novartis falls 10% after three drug trial setbacks
• BioPharma Dive
  Novartis RNA drug falls short in rare muscle disease study

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Paywall and unreadable sources

• Barron's
  Novartis Stock Tanks Following Third Major Pipeline Setback
• bloomberg.com
  Novartis Sees Avidity Drug Fail in Third Setback in a Week
• STAT
  Neuromuscular drug from Novartis fails in key study, adding to pressure on company