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UPDATE 1-Spring Bank stops hepatitis drug development after patient dies during trial

Published 01/29/2020, 10:25 PM
Updated 01/29/2020, 10:32 PM
UPDATE 1-Spring Bank stops hepatitis drug development after patient dies during trial
FSTX
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(Adds details on trial, background)
Jan 29 (Reuters) - Shares of Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals
SBPH.O plummeted 26% on Wednesday after the company said it
would end the development of an experimental drug to treat
chronic hepatitis B virus, following the death of a patient in a
mid-stage trial.
Shares of Spring Bank fell to $1.60 in premarket trade.
Earlier the stock was halted on the news.
The drug developer said the "occurrence of unexpected
serious adverse events, including one patient death" while
testing the drug, inarigivir soproxil, led to its decision.
The company said it would not pursue further research and
development efforts in chronic hepatitis B virus.
"We will continue to work in close collaboration with
external experts and our clinical study investigators to better
understand the unexpected serious adverse events observed in our
Phase 2b program," said Martin Driscoll, the company's chief
executive officer.
The company in December had suspended the mid-stage trial
that was testing the drug after laboratory findings revealed
three patients showed evidence of liver dysfunction and
elevation of alanine transaminase.
The company also said it will not invest in further
resources towards the company's chimeric oligonucleotide
antisense (CASO) program for HBV, which it was developing in
tandem with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases.
Oligonucleotide antisense is a therapeutic agent to silence
specific genes at the posttranscriptional level.
Spring Bank said it has started discussions with external
parties for licensing the CASO program.

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