As elec­tion storm gath­ered, Ar­row­head drops word about a clin­i­cal hold

As every­one’s at­ten­tion was be­ing com­mand­ed by the big pres­i­den­tial vote Tues­day night, Ar­row­head Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals $AR­WR chose to put out word that its lead pro­gram has been put on hold by the FDA.

The Pasade­na, CA-based biotech says that reg­u­la­tors clamped down on the Phase II for ARC-520, its treat­ment for he­pati­tis B, af­ter the deaths of pri­mates in an on­go­ing tox­i­col­o­gy study. That study in­volved high­er dos­es than what is be­ing used in hu­man stud­ies, us­ing its EX1 de­liv­ery ve­hi­cle. Ar­row­head did not ex­plain how many of the pri­mates died, but said in­ves­ti­ga­tors did not know what caused the deaths, which are un­der in­ves­ti­ga­tion.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER