ZURICH, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Novartis said on Tuesday its experimental drug for a muscle wasting disorder failed in a late-stage study, sending its shares down 10% after the second setback in a week for the Swiss drugmaker’s efforts to revive its pipeline.
The drug, del-desiran, was being tested in myotonic dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease with no approved treatments. Novartis acquired the treatment as part of its recent $12 billion acquisition of Avidity.
With the trial failure, Novartis has missed on two of three key pipeline readouts this year and a drug readout that should have been a “must win” according to James Eugene, an analyst at Novartis shareholder Verso Investment Management.
At 112.9 Swiss francs ($139.26), the shares have dropped back to their trading level around the start of the year.
Investors had been counting on del-desiran, heart drug pelacarsen and anti-inflammatory drug remibrutinib to drive growth as Novartis navigates declining sales of its older drug Entresto and prepares for patent expiries in early 2030.
Novartis said the Phase III HARBOR study on del-desiran failed to show a statistically significant improvement over placebo on the primary endpoint of video hand-opening time, a measure of hand myotonia.
The test measures muscle stiffness by asking patients to clench their hand into a fist for several seconds before opening it as quickly and fully as possible. Shorter times indicate less stiffness and better function.
Shreeram Aradhye, Novartis’ president of development and chief medical officer, said developing therapies for diseases such as myotonic dystrophy type 1 remained challenging and that setbacks were part of scientific progress.
The announcement came a day after Novartis shares fell more than 3% after its cholesterol drug failed in a closely watched study.
Novartis said it was sticking to its guidance that sales would grow at a compound annual rate of 5% to 6% between 2025 and 2030.
($1 = 0.8107 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Bhanvi Satija. Editing by Ludwig Burger and Mark Potter)
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