Novartis Avidity Drug Fails in Third Trial Setback in a Week
Novartis will review full data and consult regulators after del-desiran missed its main goal in a late-stage study, a third trial setback this week.
- On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Novartis suffered its third clinical-trial setback in a week after the experimental muscle-wasting drug del-desiran failed a late-stage study.
- Del-Desiran was the centerpiece of the $12 billion takeover of Avidity Biosciences, and Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan previously projected the treatment had "$5 billion-plus peak sales potential."
- The company previously halted trials of an experimental cell therapy after three patients died, and a separate study for the heart drug pelacarsen also failed.
- Analyst Stefan Schneider at Vontobel called the failure a "major pipeline setback," while Novartis shares plunged in Zurich trading, reducing annual gains to about 4%.
- Michael Leuchten at Jefferies noted concerns about the drugmaker's growth potential will likely re-emerge, though Novartis will analyze full trial data before deciding on del-desiran's future.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Major problems with the Swiss pharmaceutical company: Two out of three major drug developments have failed. The share is significantly losing value.
The Swiss company’s share loses more than 9% on Tuesday
Only a few days ago the pharmaceutical company Novartis had reported problems in the development of an important drug. Now the next setback follows. The stock reacts immediately.
Novartis Shares Slide After Neuromuscular Candidate Acquired with Avidity Fails Phase III Trial
Del-desiran failed the Phase III HARBOR trial (NCT06411288) by missing the study’s primary endpoint of statistically significant improvement vs. placebo in video Hand Opening Time (vHOT) through week 54. vHOT is a frequently used measure of hand myotonia, according to a 2024 study, and involves clinical experts reviewing videos to measure the time from hand grip to opening. The post Novartis Shares Slide After Neuromuscular Candidate Acquired w…
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