Novartis shares fall 9.2% after drug trial setback

Novartis shares fell 9.2 percent in midday trading in Zurich on Tuesday after the Swiss drugmaker said a Phase III trial of del-desiran for myotonic dystrophy type 1 did not show a statistically significant improvement over placebo.

The setback came days after Novartis said pelacarsen, a cardiovascular drug aimed at high levels of lipoprotein(a), had not been successful in a Phase III trial. Novartis stock had fallen nearly 2 percent on Monday.

Del-desiran was one of three key treatments Novartis acquired through its $12 billion purchase of California-based Avidity Biosciences earlier this year. Vontobel analyst Stefan Schneider called the result a second major setback and said he had expected del-desiran to reach blockbuster status, with potential annual sales of $3 billion.

“These are not the results we hoped for,” Novartis chief medical officer Shreeram Aradhye said. Novartis said it still expected annual sales growth of 5 to 6 percent until 2030, while Jefferies analysts said worries about growth after 2030 were likely to re-emerge.