Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock falls after pain drug fails in Phase 2 study

Published 04/08/2025, 21:08
© Reuters.

Investing.com -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) stock fell 7% after the company announced that its investigational pain medication failed to meet the primary endpoint in a Phase 2 clinical trial.

The Boston-based biotech company reported that VX-993, its selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor, did not demonstrate statistically significant improvement in treating acute pain following bunionectomy surgery compared to placebo. The study measured pain reduction over 48 hours post-surgery.

According to the trial results, patients receiving the highest dose of VX-993 showed a mean pain reduction score of 74.5 compared to 50.2 for placebo, but this difference failed to reach statistical significance with a p-value of 0.1190. The mid and low doses similarly failed to show significant improvement over placebo.

"This proof-of-concept study was powered to test whether VX-993 would result in higher clinical efficacy than previously demonstrated with the NaV1.8 pathway," said Carmen Bozic, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical (TASE:BLWV) Officer at Vertex. "Based on these results, VX-993 is not expected to be superior to our existing NaV1.8 inhibitors and therefore we will not be advancing it as monotherapy in acute pain."

The company noted that VX-993 was generally safe and well-tolerated, with most adverse events being mild to moderate. The safety profile was similar to placebo, with no serious adverse events related to the drug.

Vertex also reported its second quarter results and maintained its full-year revenue guidance despite the clinical setback.

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