Xenon stock plunges as B.C. drug developer pauses enrolment in depression study — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Xenon Pharmaceuticals (XENE-Q) fell 29% to US$40.60 in midday trading Friday after the Nasdaq-listed company paused enrollment in a late-stage trial testing azetukalner for major depressive disorder.
- CEO Ian Mortimer said side effects were 'consistent with the known profile' of the drug, with CMO Chris Kenney reporting a 'small percentage' of patients experienced confusion, aphasia, ataxia, and one case of psychosis, all short-lived.
- The same Thursday, Xenon submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA seeking approval to market azetukalner for focal-onset seizures — potentially the 15th B.C.-developed therapy to win regulatory approval, according to Life Sciences B.C.
- RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams cut his price target to US$70 from US$81 but said he does 'not believe this should impact the main value-driving epilepsy indication' or its expected 2026 launch, while calling the psychiatry opportunity 'a bit more diminished.'
- The March epilepsy data showed patients on a 25-mg daily dose of azetukalner experienced a 53.2% median reduction in seizures over 12 weeks, 42.7 percentage points better than placebo — results that helped Xenon raise over $1-billion in equity that month.
- The sell-off erased all stock gains since Xenon announced the positive epilepsy results, though analysts noted azetukalner doesn't require gradual dose increases and was tested on patients resistant to other epilepsy treatments.
Why it matters: Xenon's market value hinges overwhelmingly on azetukalner's epilepsy approval, which an RBC analyst says is unaffected by the psychiatry pause and still expected to launch next year — but the ~US$1-billion equity raise from March now trades below its pricing, and the depression upside that could have doubled the drug's market potential just became more uncertain. For B.C.'s biotech sector, the FDA filing would mark the 15th locally developed approved therapy.
Ask SkimNews
