Sum­mit ex­ecs sharp­en the bud­get ax as Duchenne MD study flops — shares rout­ed at Sarep­ta part­ner

Sum­mit Ther­a­peu­tics $SMMT has crushed high ex­pec­ta­tions for its Duchenne mus­cu­lar dy­s­tro­phy drug, re­port­ing to­day that their ther­a­py com­plete­ly failed a key tri­al. Ex­ecs at the biotech say they’re now dump­ing the drug — the fo­cus of an $842 mil­lion deal with Sarep­ta — and prep­ping a re­struc­tur­ing need­ed to sur­vive the set­back.

The 48-week Phase II tri­al failed at the pri­ma­ry as well as sec­ondary lev­el, re­searchers say, leav­ing noth­ing worth­while to pur­sue in a late-stage study. The en­tire pro­gram is be­ing scrapped now, and the news hit shares hard, with the stock plung­ing 77%.

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