Vir Biotech slumps to over 3-year low as flu prevention therapy fails trial

Vir Biotechnology

20/07/2023 17:30

July 20 (Reuters) - Vir Biotechnology's  VIR.O  shares
plunged 45% to a more than three-year low on Thursday after the
company's experimental antibody therapy to prevent a type of flu
failed to meet its goals in a mid-stage trial.
    The biotechnology firm, which came into prominence through
its COVID-19 antibody therapy sotrovimab developed in
partnership with GSK plc  GSK.L , lost over $1 billion in market
capitalization in early trade hit by the therapy's failure.
    In the trial of around 3,000 adults, the highest dose of the
therapy showed about 16% reduction in influenza A illness, which
was deemed not statistically significant according to the
standards set in the study's protocol.
    The company said it will conduct further analyses on the
trial data to "better understand these outcomes", but TD Cowen
analyst Phil Nadeau does not expect the therapy to undergo
further development.
    Though the results were disappointing, the over 40% drop in
the shares "may be overdone", considering the company still had
around $1.9 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter,
and also has other promising candidates in its portfolio, Nadeau
said in a note.
    The company is developing antibody therapies against
hepatitis B and D, for which data is expected later this year,
and also has development programs for COVID-19, HIV and
influenza.
    Vir's shares are trading at nearly 23 times analysts'
predictions of its sales over the next 12 months, compared to
14.6 times for peer Alnylam Pharmaceuticals  ALNY.O  and 9 times
for Vertex Pharmaceuticals  VRTX.O , according to Refinitiv
data.

 (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7;))