Oct 14 (Reuters) – Vanda Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday its experimental drug for social anxiety disorder failed the main goal of a late-stage study, prompting the company to put the program on hold pending further analysis of the data.
Shares of the biopharmaceutical company were down about 17% in extended trading.
• The study did not show that the drug, VQW-765, reduced anxiety compared to placebo during a public-speaking stress test, the company said, adding that it also missed a key secondary goal in the broader study population
• The late-stage trial enrolled 546 adults with social anxiety disorder at about 30 sites across the United States
• The study was designed to confirm findings from an earlier mid-stage trial, which had suggested the drug could reduce anxiety symptoms, Vanda said
• The late-stage results did not confirm the earlier findings, it said
• The VQW-765 development program, Vanda said, is on hold while it reviews the full dataset
• The drug was safe and well tolerated, consistent with prior studies, it said
(Reporting by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
