Dive Brief:
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Monday morning it will drop its Phase 3 drug for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) after a late-stage failure.
- The big biotech said it would discontinue development of suptavumab (REGN2222), which failed to meet its primary endpoint of preventing medically-attended RSV infections in infants in a study.
- Further data from the trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting. Shares of Regeneron were up slightly Monday morning.
Dive Insight:
Known for its strong R&D engine and its string of successes, Regeneron has long been an investor darling. That's why the company's stock price were largely unaffected after the big biotech announced it would be dropping development of one of its late-stage assets.
While the drug was once touted as a strong prospect for the company, Regeneron has had a string of recent wins that will offset the loss of the Phase 3 drug.
"Regeneron has a robust pipeline across many serious diseases, and we look forward to important data readouts from other programs in the coming weeks and months," said Regeneron CSO George Yancopoulos in a statement.
Regeneron has been making headlines with partner Sanofi SA for the approval the two most recent drugs developed under their collaboration — the eczema treatment Dupixent (dupilumab) and the rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara (sarilumab).
The companies are also partnered on the PCSK9 inhibitor Praluent (alirocumab), which has not been commercially successful so far. Yet, the partnership has boosted the French drugmaker and been a highlight of an otherwise uneventful pipeline.
Despite the strength of the tie-up, the collaboration is set to end at the close of 2017 and has not been extended. The partners, who originally got together in 2007, expanded their relationship in 2009 and then again in 2015. Sanofi continues to hold a stake in Regeneron.