It has been stopped by Sanofi (SASY.PA) to further work on amcenestrant. It is a treatment which was once seen to have strong commercial potential in breast cancer. However, after a second trial failure it had to deal with a major blow to the French healthcare company’s development prospects.
This particular move weighed on shares. It has mounted pressure on Sanofi to bolster its pipeline of drug candidates because it became increasingly dependent on its multi-billion best seller, fast-growing eczema and asthma treatment Dupixent.
Sanofi has also fallen far behind in the race to develop COVID-19 vaccines.
Dropping the case
Reuters reported, “A trial dubbed AMEERA-5, which was testing amcenestrant on women with newly diagnosed advanced breast cancer, was stopped early because an independent monitoring panel found no signs of it working. The shares were down 5.7% at the close, the second-biggest loss on the French blue chip index CAC40.”
Separately, the plaintiff in the first lawsuit over the heartburn drug Zantac, which has also been weighing on Sanofi’s shares recently, on Tuesday agreed to drop his case.
Among a range of companies selling Zantac, Sanofi was one which U.S. regulators pulled from the market in 2020.
Sanofi shares dropped
The investors scare over Zantac. It started a week ago and Sanofi shares have dropped more than 13% to a 10-month low.
It has been reported by Reuters that CFO Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon told Reuters the recent share price rout was compounding an undervaluation that had become a buying opportunity, pointing to future prospects of hoemophilia drug hopeful efanesoctocog alfa and on nirsevimab against certain airway infections in infants. He said, “There was no merit to Zantac claims and Sanofi’s share of former Zantac sales was only a fraction of that of other companies.”
Sanofi’s shares were hit in March. It happened when the company announced initial disappointing amcenestrant results of a breast cancer study involving previously treated women. It had been previously said by fhe company that the drug candidate’s biggest commercial opportunity was as a treatment early after diagnosis.
“This was a flagship drug in pipeline and important oncology asset,” wrote Credit Suisse analyst Jo Walton.
