Key points:
- Tradicida stock crashed 93.8% after a clinical trial failed to meet primary endpoints.
- Patients taking the veverimer CKD drug performed worse than those on a placebo.
- Investors sold their shares, and it may take years for Tricida shares to recover.
The Tricida Inc (NASDAQ: TCDA) stock price crashed 93.8% after revealing that the topline data from its VALOR-CKD renal outcomes clinical trial did not meet its primary endpoints. The crash in its share price was triggered by the revelation that patients on the placebo had much better outcomes than those treated by its drug candidate, veverimer.
The clinical trial was meant to test veverimer’s ability to slow CKD progression in patients with metabolic acidosis and chronic kidney disease, or CKD. However, the trial did not go as planned, given today’s topline results that drove Trdicida shares into a tailspin.
Also read: Five Best Pharmaceutical Stocks To Watch In 2022.
Tridica noted that 149 participants taking veverimer experienced a DD40 primary endpoint event compared to 148 placebo-treated patients, representing a veverimer to placebo hazard ratio of 0.99 over the average 26.7 months treatment period.
Enrollment in the clinical trial was based on stringent criteria such as having two eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) values taken at least two weeks apart, in the range of 20 to 40 mL/min/1.73m2. In addition, the two values were not supposed to be more than 20% different.
Another requirement was three serum bicarbonate values, each taken at least two weeks apart from the others and all three occurring within six weeks. The values had to be in the range of 12 to 20 mEq/L.
The study also required patients to be on a stable, maximum-tolerated, labelled dose of an angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE inhibitor and/or angiotensin II receptor blocker, or ARB, for at least four weeks before and during the Screening Period.
Investors were disappointed that despite the researchers’ strict requirements, the clinical trial did not meet its primary endpoints and performed worse than the placebo. As a result, it is unlikely that Tricida shares will ever recover from today’s developments, and investors might need years to trust the company again.
*This is not investment advice.
Tricida stock price.
The Tricida stock price crashed 93.84% to trade at $0.67, falling from Friday’s closing price of $10.88.