FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN) faced another setback as its flagship drug, pamrevlumab, failed to meet the required standards for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This comes shortly after the drug also proved ineffective against Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The findings have caused a major drop in FGEN stock.
Researchers tested patients’ ability to forcefully exhale — a measure called forced vital capacity — after 48 weeks of treatment. Unfortunately, the recipients of pamrevlumab did not demonstrate any improvement in this measure. In fact, they experienced a decline, although it was not as significant as the decline observed in patients who received a placebo.
The impact of this news was immediate, as FibroGen’s stock plummeted by a staggering 79.3% shortly after the stock market opened today, reaching its lowest point ever. This sharp decline follows a previous drop of over 8% on June 7 when pamrevlumab failed to make a difference in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Mary Lee is a freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. She holds an M.S. degree in business and economic journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York and a certificate in digital marketing from the University of Toronto.
