Here's Why Acorda Therapeutics Got Crushed Today
Shares of biopharma Acorda Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ACOR) dropped as much as 40.1% Wednesday after the company issued an update on its second-leading drug candidate. The company is increasing the frequency it evaluates white blood cell count in patients participating in a phase 3 program (which includes three studies) evaluating tozadenant as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease. The extra monitoring is being conducted after doctors discovered an increased rate of agranulocytosis, a severe reduction in white blood cell count, which is "possibly drug-related" and is sometimes associated with sepsis and death. White blood cells play a critical role in the body's immune system by fighting off infection.
Acorda Therapeutics noted that to date, approximately 890 patients have been treated with tozadenant and 234 with a placebo. Seven cases of sepsis have occurred, all in tozadenant groups, and four cases were fatal and related to agranulocytosis. The company is currently in discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board.
As of 12:42 p.m. EST, the stock had settled to a 37.6% loss.
Source: Fool.com
