Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowShares of central Indiana pharmaceutical firm Endocyte Inc. skidded 15 percent Wednesday morning after industry giant Merck & Co. Inc. gave up on developing Endocyte cancer drug vintafolide.
On Tuesday, West-Lafayette-based Endocyte said it had regained worldwide rights to vintafolide from Merck. The move essentially meant Endocyte lost Merck’s financial backing and sales muscle for the drug.
The treatment failed a key study last month, leading to a 62-percent single-day drop in Endocyte's share price on May 2. Shares finished the day near $6.65.
Endocyte and Merck announced May 19 that they were terminating a clinical trial of the drug, after an analysis showed vintafolide didn’t demonstrate efficacy when treating patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
Endocyte said Tuesday it will continue to test vintafolide for lung cancer.
Shares of Endocyte traded at $6.55 at mid-morning Wednesday.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.