Ionis shares plummet as GSK scraps heart drug trial plans

27 May 2016

Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS) have plunged 40% after GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) scrapped plans to test the company’s IONIS-TTR heart drug in late-stage trials.

The decision is a serious blow to the California-based company which saw more than $900 million wiped from its market value as a result. It comes two months after the US Food and Drug Administration put a clinical hold on the trial testing the drug, citing safety concerns.

IONIS-TTR is being developed for the treatment of transthyretin cardiomyopathy, a rare and fatal disease associated with progressive heart failure.

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