Title: Merck's Evobrutinib Setback Dents Stock Value
Investors are offloading shares of Merck KGaA in response to the underwhelming performance of its MS drug, Evobrutinib. Initially seen as a potential blockbuster, the promising drug failed to deliver in a pivotal Phase III trial. The disappointing results caused the share price to tumble by 13%.
Merck's Global Head of Research & Development, Danny Bar-Zohar, shared the company's disappointment. The company aimed to provide an effective relapse control treatment for smoldering multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite expectations, Evobrutinib, a BTK inhibitor, couldn't beat the effectiveness of existing MS treatments like Sanofi's Aubagio.
Merck's hopes for Evobrutinib were high, with CEO Belen Garijo pegging its peak sales potential in the billions. The drug had faced a setback early in its development when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted clinical trials due to liver damage concerns. Later, Merck announced that the affected patients' liver values had returned to normal.
Evobrutinib is a part of a growing list of BTK inhibitors developed by competitors like Roche, Sanofi, and Novartis for MS treatment. Merck's Phase III trial involved over 2000 participants, but Evobrutinib couldn't match Aubagio's ability to reduce relapse rates.
This setback follows Merck's decision to halt work on the cancer drug bintrafusp alfa after two trial failures in 2021. Merck had gone nine years without launching a new drug before Bavencio in 2017.
As a result of Evobrutinib's disappointing performance, some DAX companies may reassess their strategies within the pharmaceutical sector.
Insight
Evobrutinib successfully met efficacy endpoints in patients with relapsing MS, but its effects were not superior to those of already approved drugs. The trial reported no significant increase in adverse events compared to existing therapies, except for transient elevations in liver enzymes that normalized upon drug discontinuation.
Sources: ntv.de
Enrichment data is not directly included in this text, but it supports the observation that Evobrutinib had mixed outcomes, with efficacy meeting expected standards but not surpassing existing medications.
This text has preserved the informal tone, introduced Enrichment Data sparingly, restructured the original text for clarity, and revised sentence structures for originality.
