FibroGen stock falls ~10% after roxadustat fails phase 3 trial for anemia
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FibroGen's (NASDAQ:FGEN) oral drug roxadustat failed to meet the main efficacy goal in a phase 3 trial to treat anemia in patients with transfusion-dependent lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
MDS are a group of disorders in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature or become healthy blood cells causing chronic anemia â a condition in which the body does not produce enough healthy red blood cells.

In the study, dubbed MATTERHORN, 140 patients were enrolled who received either roxadustat or placebo. The main goal of the trial is transfusion independence for â¥ 56 consecutive days during the first 28 weeks of therapy.
The company said the proportion of patients who achieved red blood cell transfusion independence in the first 28 weeks was 47.5% for the roxadustat group, compared to 33.3% for placebo.
The adverse event profile of roxadustat, as per preliminary safety analysis, was generally consistent with previous data. Safety data will be further evaluated at trial's completion, the company added.
The MATTERHORN study is part of FibroGen's co-development collaborations with AstraZeneca (AZN) and Astellas Pharma (OTCPK:ALPMF) (OTCPK:ALPMY).
FGEN -11.74% to $14.74 premarket May 5