Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s share price dropped Friday morning after the Burnaby firm announced that it’s delaying further clinical trials of its lead drug candidate, a cholesterol-fighting drug.
Tekmira (TSX:TKM) had planned to initiate a Phase 1-2 clinical trial of TKM-ApoB by the end of this year, but a review of non-clinical data found that the drug was not meeting the company’s expectations. Tekmira could not be reached for comment about what expectations were not met.
The announcement triggered a drop of nearly 12% in Tekmira’s share price to $1.45 in early morning trading, although the company’s shares had recovered most of their value by press time during midday trading.
The company said the drug’s delay has no impact on any of its other programs.
In addition to its own development pipeline, Tekmira is helping develop various drug candidates owned by other companies.
BIV last reported about Tekmira on August 5, when the company filed for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enter into clinical trials with a new treatment for solid cancer tumours.
The company received approval from the FDA on September 7 to investigate the treatment (TKM-PLK1) and said Friday morning that it’s proceeding with trials of the drug.
Tekmira expects the treatment, which is its second most advanced candidate following TKM-ApoB, to enter trials in the fourth quarter.
Tekmira’s share price range during the last week: $1.57 to $1.68; 52-week high: $1.95; 52-week low: $0.69.