Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc. plunged Monday after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company said its key drug candidate failed to meet its goals in a late-stage study.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is developing EBI-005 as a treatment for dry eye disease. The condition involves a lack of adequate moisture for a person's eyes. The drug candidate failed to meet both of its key treatment goals in the study.
The stock fell $8.63, or 72 percent, to $3.33 in premarket trading.
"We are disappointed that our Phase 3 study in dry eye disease did not meet its primary efficacy endpoints, but we are encouraged that we continue to see a favorable tolerability profile for EBI-005," said President and CEO Abbie Celniker, in a statement.
The company said it will focus on continuing development of the drug candidate for potential use as an allergic conjunctivitis treatment. It will not start another late-stage study focusing on dry eye disease that it had planned for later this year.
Eleven Biotherapeutics said it currently has about $59 million in cash and cash equivalents, which it expects will finance its current plans into the second half of 2016. The company has about $15 million in debt.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
