Skin tu­mors in mice force Pro­tag­o­nist to halt lead pro­gram, crush­ing stock

Pro­tag­o­nist Ther­a­peu­tics just can’t catch a break.

Six months af­ter the Newark, CA-based biotech un­veiled grand plans to launch its lead can­di­date for blood dis­or­ders in­to a Phase III tri­al, the FDA has slapped the pro­gram with a clin­i­cal hold. The halt — which ap­plies to all tri­als in­volv­ing the can­di­date, rus­fer­tide — comes af­ter skin tu­mors were dis­cov­ered in mice treat­ed with the drug, ac­cord­ing to Pro­tag­o­nist.

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