Idenix: IIb or not IIb
Despite positive results for its valopicitabine in a triple combination Phase I/II trial for hepatitis C, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDIX) fell $0.53 to $6.70 on Tuesday. The problem was that the company disclosed it would conduct an additional Phase IIb trial that analysts hadn't factored into their models. As a result, two sellsiders downgraded the stock.
IDIX (Cambridge, Mass.) had hoped that valopicitabine (NM283) would work as part of a double combination with pegylated interferon. But when the company reported results from two other Phase IIb trials of the ribonucleoside analog plus pegylated IFN in April, the final data from one study showed no sustained virologic response. Interim data from the other showed 38% of patients had undetectable virus after 12 weeks of treatment(see BioCentury, April 16). ...