Novartis Stock Plunges on Disappointing Drug Trial Results

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Zurich: Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, saw its shares fall roughly 10% after its experimental medicine del-desiran failed to reach the primary goal of a late-stage clinical trial for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), a rare muscle-wasting disease.

The Phase 3 trial found no statistically significant improvement over a placebo in the primary measure of patients' capacity to open their hands following grasping. The setback is especially significant because del-desiran was acquired by Novartis for $12 billion from Avidity Biosciences and was expected to be a key future growth driver.

The result follows another severe setback for Novartis: its cardiovascular medicine pelacarsen failed in a late-stage experiment to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.

Novartis stated that it will continue to project 5–6% yearly sales growth through 2030 while analysing the complete trial results and consulting regulators.