Another clinical trial failure for an Alzheimer’s Disease in a late stage trial triggered a pre-market sell-off.  Both Biogen (BIIB) -aducanumab- and Lilly (LLY)- solanezumab -drugs in development are engineered antibodies that attack beta amyloid targets in the brain.

At the close 11/23:

ACIU $11.53 down 15.84%

BIIB $305.93 down 3.83%

LLY $68 down 10.51%

The sell-off appears to limited to direct AD players for now.  The good news is that there was little collateral damage.The IBB is up a tad at $283.84 and the XBI is up 1.72% % to $65.74.  Mid-caps are in the green: SGEN,TSRO VRTX.

AC Immune (ACIU) A Swiss based clinical stage biopharma Company is focused in AD drugs with a pipeline of six drugs including one for prevention is partnered with Genentech (Roche) and Janssen (JNJ).

The biotech sector is underperforming YTD and this news will undoubtedly bring in sellers and curb speculation for new Alzheimer Drugs. Keep in mind that the Biogen drug aducanumab is a materially different antibody (mAb) targeting a different epitope in the amyloid beta (A-beta).More data is coming from CTAD (Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease) on December 8-10 in San Diego  including that of AC Immune (ACIU) crenezumab.

 

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