Key Highlights

  • Shares are trading down 9.85% to $394.16, on pace for one of the stock's worst single-day losses since 2001.
  • Rival Novartis (NYSE:NVS) reported that its Lp(a)-lowering drug pelacarsen failed to meet its primary endpoint in a pivotal Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes trial.
  • Investors immediately marked down the read-through for the company's competing olpasiran program, a similar siRNA-based Lp(a) therapy in a large Phase 3 outcomes trial.
  • BMO Capital downgraded the stock to Market Perform, while UBS pushed back, maintaining a Buy rating and arguing olpasiran's different mechanism could still Yield a benefit.
  • The selloff overshadowed positive Phase 3 data showing IMDELLTRA plus AstraZeneca's (NASDAQ:AZN) Imfinzi significantly improved overall survival in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

Shares Fall Sharply on Read-Through Risk

A NASDAQ-listed biotechnology company is trading sharply lower today, on pace for one of its worst single-day losses since 2001, despite announcing landmark survival data for one of its cancer therapies, an outcome that would typically be read as good news for the stock. Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) shares fell after rival Novartis (NYSE:NVS) reported that its Lp(a)-lowering drug pelacarsen failed to meet its primary endpoint in a pivotal Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes trial, raising doubts about whether lowering lipoprotein(a) actually reduces cardiovascular events.

Investors Mark Down a Competing Cardiovascular Program

Investors immediately marked down the read-through for Amgen's competing olpasiran program, an siRNA-based Lp(a) therapy in a large Phase 3 outcomes trial of its own. BMO Capital downgraded Amgen to Market Perform while maintaining a $450 price target, and Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a Neutral rating with a $400 target following the news.

Not All Analysts Agree on the Read-Through

UBS pushed back somewhat, maintaining a Buy rating and $440 price target, arguing that olpasiran's different mechanism, higher-risk patient population, and greater degree of Lp(a) reduction could still yield a statistically significant benefit despite Novartis's miss. That split in analyst views highlights genuine uncertainty about how directly the two programs' outcomes are linked.

Positive Lung Cancer Data Gets Overshadowed

The selloff overshadowed positive Phase 3 data showing that Amgen's IMDELLTRA in combination with AstraZeneca's (NASDAQ:AZN) Imfinzi significantly improved overall survival in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, a landmark result in its own right. The broader biotech index also declined roughly 1.8% amid the sector-wide selloff, with Novartis ADRs tumbling around 14%. Continued Phase 3 data from Amgen's own olpasiran program will likely be the key catalyst determining whether today's read-through fear proves warranted.