Acadia Pharma (NASDAQ:ACAD) shares fell in the premarket on Wednesday after the biotech announced that its experimental therapy for a rare genetic condition known as Prader-Willi syndrome failed in a Phase 3 trial, boosting the shares of its rival drug developer, Soleno Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLNO).
San Diego, California-based Acadia (NASDAQ:ACAD) lost ~13%, while Soleno (NASDAQ:SLNO), whose PWS candidate is currently in late-stage development, added ~14%.
Citing topline data from its Phase 3 COMPASS PWS trial, the company said that its intranasal PWS therapy, carbetocin, designed to treat the excessive sense of hunger seen with the disease, didn’t reach the study’s main goal with a statistically significant effect.
The effects in those who received carbetocin failed to show any differentiation from patients treated with placebo on any secondary endpoint, Acadia (NASDAQ:ACAD) added, noting that the safety and tolerability of the drug were consistent with its prior clinical trials.
Given the setback, the company has decided to drop intranasal carbetocin from its pipeline.