Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) shares fell 8% Thursday following the announcement that Culper Research has taken a short position on the stock, though the larger part of these losses has since been retraced. ACAD shares are down 2.23% at $24.99 near end-of-day trading.
According to Culper Research, Acadia has misrepresented the safety profile of Daybue as well as patient retention rates. Daybue is the brand name of the drug trofinetide that treats genetic brain disorder Rett Syndrome, and is approved for adult and pediatric use.
“We believe ACADIA’s April 2023 launch of Daybue – the Company’s highly-anticipated “first and only” drug to treat Ret Syndrome – has been a total flop. Despite an initial outburst of interest in the drug, our research reveals that patients, caregivers, physicians, and insurers have all soured on the drug,” the report stated.
Acadia expects patients to discontinue use of the drug over time so that Daybue revenue for 2024 will come in at $316 million instead of the $379 million expected by analysts, according to LSEG data.
“The sell-side still calls for over $800 million in peak Daybue revenues, but our research suggests that Daybue new patient starts already topped this past summer, peak revenues will be a mere fraction of sell-side estimates, and Daybue’s flop will have knock-on effects as ACADIA remains a cash-burning machine,” the report said.
Acadia is set to report Q4 earnings on February 27, with analysts expecting earnings per share of $0.28 and revenue of $223.77 million.