(Reuters) – Vir Biotechnology’s shares plunged 45% to a more than three-year low on Thursday after the company’s experimental antibody therapy to prevent a type of flu failed to meet its goals in a mid-stage trial.
The biotechnology firm, which came into prominence through its COVID-19 antibody therapy sotrovimab developed in partnership with GSK plc, lost over $1 billion in market capitalization in early trade hit by the therapy’s failure.
In the trial of around 3,000 adults, the highest dose of the therapy showed about 16% reduction in influenza A illness, which was deemed not statistically significant according to the standards set in the study’s protocol.
The company said it will conduct further analyses on the trial data to “better understand these outcomes”, but TD Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau does not expect the therapy to undergo further development.
Though the results were disappointing, the over 40% drop in the shares “may be overdone”, considering the company still had around $1.9 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter, and also has other promising candidates in its portfolio, Nadeau said in a note.
The company is developing antibody therapies against hepatitis B and D, for which data is expected later this year, and also has development programs for COVID-19, HIV and influenza.
Vir’s shares are trading at nearly 23 times analysts’ predictions of its sales over the next 12 months, compared to 14.6 times for peer Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and 9 times for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, according to Refinitiv data.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
