Vertex falls after pain drug setback

Vertex Pharmaceuticals

05/08/2025 15:50

Updates

** Shares of drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX.O fall 17.8% to over seven-months low of $388.43

** Stock set for its worst day in over 4 years, if losses hold

** Co said on Monday it will stop developing its next-generation pain drug VX-993 as a solo treatment in acute pain, after it failed in a mid-stage trial

** VX-993 did not show statistically significant improvement in pain reduction compared to placebo

** The trial studied three different doses of VX-993 administered orally in 367 patients with acute pain following bunionectomy, a surgery to correct deformed bones of the big toe and foot

** Adds its will not start a late-stage trial studying its recently approved non-opioid painkiller Journavx in patients with a condition called lumbosacral radiculopathy, caused by a pinched nerve in the spine

** Up to last close, stock up 17.28% YTD

 (Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)

 ((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))