Agios falls after Novo's sickle cell disease drug shows promise in late-stage study

Agio Paper & Industries

20/04/2026 16:42

Updates

** Shares of drugmaker Agios Pharmaceuticals AGIO.O fall 22.8% to $27.14 after rival Novo's NOVOb.CO sickle cell disease drug shows potential

** Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk says its experimental once-daily oral pill etavopivat for sickle cell disease met the main goals of a late-stage trial

** Last year, AGIO said its sickle cell disease drug met just one of its two main goals in a late-stage study and failed to show a statistically significant reduction in pain

** Meanwhile, Novo says etavopivat showed superior reduction in pain and improvement in haemoglobin response in adults and adolescents with sickle cell disease

** "While we think AGIO could come under pressure off the headline and the competitor update is another threat to AGIO shares potentially climbing back to the $40/sh levels, we believe the majority of the impact of the mixed data has been baked into the stock at this point," say Truist analysts

** We think this development could pressure AGIO shares as Novo Nordisk now expects to submit for regulatory approval in the second-half of this year, introducing near-term competitive risk - J.P. Morgan

** Including session's moves, AGIO down 1.2% YTD

 (Reporting by Sneha S K)

 ((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))