DCPH - Blueprint Medicines Tumbles 20.8% on Phase 3 Study Failure
Shares of Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC) fell nearly 21% today after the company announced that its lead drug candidate, avapritinib, failed an important late-stage study in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The experimental therapy didn't lead to an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to regorafenib in patients with third- or fourth-line GIST, meaning they had received two or three other treatments prior to the study.
The disappointing results might settle the debate among investors over which company is better positioned to succeed in GIST: Blueprint Medicines or Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: DCPH). The former has earned a narrow regulatory approval for a specific genetic mutation in GIST, but the latter has generated encouraging results in second-, third-, and fourth-line GIST.
As of 10:58 a.m. EDT, the pharma stock had settled to a 17.2% loss.