February 20, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
As the expression goes in baseball: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. You can probably say the same thing about biopharma, with some years being better than others, and sometimes a lot better—or a lot worse. Alex Philippidis, writing for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, takes a look at the 10 worst Wall Street Losers of last year, biopharma companies whose stocks fell the most from December 30, 2015 to December 30, 2016.
Dec. 30, 2015: $10.94
Dec. 30, 2016: $1.60
Percent Change: (85.4 percent)
: $1.25
Headquartered in New York City, Dipexium Pharmaceuticals is a late-stage drug company developing and commercializing Locilex (pexiganan cream 0.8%), a broad spectrum topical antibiotic for mild and moderate skin infections. The real damage came in October 2016, when it announced two Phase III trials of Locilex in patients with mild infections of diabetic foot ulcers failed to meet the primary clinical endpoints or the secondary endpoint.
On December 22, 2016, the company announced a merger with PLx Pharma (Houston, TX) in an all-stock deal. Dipexium will be renamed PLx Pharma and operate until the leadership of the PLx management team.
Dec. 30, 2015: $4.69
Dec. 30, 2016: $0.65
Percent Change: (86.1 percent)
: $0.66.
Based in Hayward, California, Anthera Pharmaceuticals has two products in development, Sollpura, to treat pancreatic insufficiency in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and Blisibimod, a BAFF inhibitor to treat IgA nephropathy. In November, Blisibimod failed a Phase III trial. In December, Sollpura failed a Phase III trial.
Dec. 30, 2015: $2.69
Dec. 30, 2016: $0.37
Percent change: (86.2 percent)
: $0.44
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CytRx is focused on developing aldoxorubicin, an improved version of chemotherapeutic doxorubicin. The drug failed a Phase III trial in July.
Dec. 30, 2015: $4.67
Dec. 30, 2016: $0.63
Percent change: (86.5 percent)
: $0.71
Based in Exton, Pennsylvania, Fibrocell Science focuses on cell and gene therapy in diseases affecting the skin and connective tissue. Its lead product is azficel-T. Philippidis writes, “Shares rebounded to $3.32 on April 22, the day after the company said it completed its last patient visit for primary endpoint analysis in the Phase II clinical trial of azficel-T for vocal cord scarring resulting in chronic or severe dysphonia. The trial failed, Fibrocell acknowledged on June 8, sending shares slumping nearly 37 percent to $1.26, from $1.99 the previous day.”
Dec. 30, 2015: $7.76
Dec. 30, 2016: $1.01
Percent Change: (87.0 percent)
: $1.46
Headquartered in Branford, Connecticut, 6. Marinus Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing ganaxolone for patients with drug-resistant seizures and neuropsychiatric disorders. The drug failed a Phase III trial in June in adults with drug-resistant focal onset seizures. Later it indicated improvements in patients with Fragile X Syndrome, PCDH19 pediatric epilepsy, and status epilepticus. On February 14, 2017, the company announced that ganaxolone showed positive effects in mouse models of adult Angelman syndrome (AS).
Dec. 30, 2015: $8.74
Dec. 30, 2016: $0.98
Percent Change: (88.8 percent)
: $0.89
With headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, Tokai Pharmaceuticals is commercializing drugs for prostate cancer and other hormonally driven diseases. The company’s galaterone failed a Phase III trial comparing galaterone to Xtandi (enzalutamide) in treatment-naïve metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients.
Dec. 30, 2015: $19.35
Dec. 30, 2016: $1.95
Percent Change: (89.9 percent)
: $1.80
Based in Waltham, Massachusetts,4. Chiasma uses its Transient Permeability Enhancer (TPE) technology platform to develop and commercialize oral drugs that are only available as injections. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Complete Response Letter of the company’s Mycapssa (octreotide) capsules for maintenance treatment of adults with acromegaly, indicating another clinical trial was required.
Dec. 30, 2015: $31.57
Dec. 30, 2016: $2.80
Percent Change: (91.1 percent)
: $3.35
Headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 3. Cempra a is focused on antibacterials. On November 2, 2016, the FDA released a preliminary review of the company’s solithromycin, citing liver toxicity issues. Two days later the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee voted 7 to 6 that its efficacy outweighed the risks for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia 9CABP). Then on December 29, the FDA issued a CRL pending further safety data regarding its manufacturing facility.
Dec. 30, 2015: $78.10
Dec. 30, 2016: $4.83
Percent Change: (93.8 percent): $4.50
Located in New York City and Princeton, New Jersey, 2. Ophthotech is focused on wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The company’s Fovista (Pegpleranib) failed two Phase III trials in December. It was being evaluated in combination with Lucentis and compared to Lucentis alone.
1. Concordia International
Dec. 30, 2015: $40.75
Dec. 30, 2016: $2.12
Percent Change: (94.8 percent)
Current price: $2.50
Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario (Canada), Concordia International (CXRX) is an international company with sales in more than 100 countries and a portfolio of more than 200 established, off-patent products. It also markets orphan drugs through its Orphan Drugs Division.
In August, Concordia halted its quarterly dividend and dropped its financial projections after disappointing second-quarter results. In November, the company reported a 19.9 percent year-over-year drop in revenue. Also in November, Allan Oberman replaced Mark Thompson as company chief executive officer, and Jordan Kupinsky came in as chairman of the board. Thompson was the previous chair.
