AstraZeneca’s announcement that it had decided to stop development of experimental stroke treatment NXY-059 had a predictable impact on the share price of the drug’s originator, Renovis, yesterday.
The US company saw a massive 75% wiped off its share value, reflecting the fact that Renovis has no other drugs in clinical testing.
Additional information from the study reveal that NXY-059 singularly failed to show a benefit compared to placebo on a number of endpoints, including measures of stroke-related disability and neurological status.
Renovis’ chief executive, Corey Goodman, said that the company was still in a strong financial position, with two years’ of funding in reserve for operations, and still had collaborations with Pfizer and Genentech.
Although these projects are still back in preclinical testing, a project with Pfizer aimed at developing VR1 antagonists for pain is due to enter the clinical phase of development next year.
