Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Idera stock drops on hepatitis-C drug delay

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s (Nasdaq: IDRA) stock dropped more than 5 percent Monday, following the company’s announcement that it would delay the launch of a clinical trial on its drug candidate for hepatitis C, due to toxicology study results on rodents that showed instances of atypical proliferation of a type of white blood cells, called lymphocytes. High levels of lymphocytes are generally associated with viral infections.

The company announced its decision on Friday, when the markets were closed.

The news comes less than a month after the company reported positive Phase 1 clinical trial results for the drug candidate, called IMO-2125, in combination with the approved generic drug ribavirin. Idera’s experimental drug was well tolerated and produced clinically meaningful antiviral activity, according to the company.

Idera’s stock was trading at $2.40 in afternoon trading on Monday, down from $2.53 at the previous close.