BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

Akcea falls on new thrombocytopenia disclosure for volanesorsen

February 27, 2018 11:16 PM UTC

Akcea Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AKCA) lost $5.78 (26%) to $16.80 on Tuesday after disclosing an additional case of grade 4 thrombocytopenia in an open-label extension of its volanesorsen (IONIS-APOCIIIRx) to treat familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS), a rare lipid disorder that results from lipoprotein lipase deficiency.

The company reported the event in its 2017 earnings call after market close on Monday. Akcea said the case was detected early and that the patient's platelet levels returned to normal after stopping treatment. The company said there have been a total of four cases of grade 4 thrombocytopenia across the volanesorsen program for FCS in about 75-90 patients (see BioCentury Extra, March 6, 2017)...