Graphite Bio tumbles after halting trial for blood disease therapy
06/01/2023 11:39
** Shares of drug developer Graphite Bio Inc GRPH.O down
~49% at $1.55 in premarket trading
** Company voluntarily paused an early-to-mid-stage trial of
its blood disease therapy due to a serious adverse event in the
first patient dosed, it said late on Thursday
** Patient showed prolonged low blood cell counts and
required continued blood transfusion, which the company said is
likely related to its treatment
** The therapy, nula-cel, was being studied as a potential
treatment for sickle cell disease, a group of inherited red
blood cell disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein that
carries oxygen through the body
** Company says it has reported the incident to the U.S.
FDA, and the patient has shown no evidence of blood cancer
** Graphite also says it no longer plans to seek FDA's
permission to test its other experimental therapy, GPH102, for
beta thalassemia in humans by mid-2024
** Nula-cel's development will certainly be delayed,
brokerage Cowen and Co says, adding the length of delay to
development of GRPH's pipeline is unclear
** Graphite stock lost ~73% of its value in 2022
(Reporting by Raghav Mahobe)
((Raghav.Mahobe@thomsonreuters.com))