By Colin KellaherShares of Durect plunged nearly 65% in premarket trading Wednesday after the biopharmaceutical company said a Phase 2b study of its lead drug candidate larsucosterol in severe alcohol-associated hepatitis fell short of its key goal. After the closing bell Tuesday, the Cupertino, Calif., company said the study missed its primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in mortality or liver transplantation at 90 days. Despite the miss, Durect said larsucosterol showed a "compelling and clinically meaningful trend" in reduction of mortality at 90 days, and that it plans to advance the drug into a registrational Phase 3 study. Durect shares, which closed Tuesday at $2.58, were recently down 64% to 93 cents in premarket trading. Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

Source: Wall Street Journal November 08, 2023 21:22 UTC