Shares in Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO 1.95%) slumped by 23% as of 11 a.m. today. As is often the case with small-cap healthcare stocks, the move isn't so much dictated by what the company is doing as by what a much larger company, Novo Nordisk (NVO 2.42%), reported today.
What happened wth Novo Nordisk today
In case you are wondering, Novo Nordisk stock barely moved today. It's a performance that reflects the relative importance of healthcare companies' sickle cell treatments to their respective bottom lines. Today's news was that Novo's oral, once-daily, pyruvate kinase-R (PKR) activator, etavopivat, is the first in a new class of drugs to meet both co-primary endpoints in the phase 3 HIBISCUS trial, according to Novo's release.
NASDAQ: AGIO
Key Data Points
This stands in contrast to the Phase 3 data from Agios (released in November) with its oral pyruvate kinase activator, mitapavit, in sickle cell disease. Improving hemoglobin levels in patients with sickle cell disease helps reduce anemia and, ultimately, should reduce crisis events, including intense pain episodes.
In short, Novo's etavopivat improved hemoglobin response and demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC), with Novo noting that the "time to first" VOC occurred at 38.4 weeks in the treatment group compared to 20.9 weeks in the placebo group.
Agios trial result
In contrast, Agios' mitapavit, although also improving hemoglobin response, didn't demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in its primary endpoint of reducing "annualized rate of sickle cell pain crises (SCPCs) compared to placebo."
Image source: Getty Images.
As such, the news from Novo, and its intent to file for FDA approval in the second half of 2026 is a clear threat to the earnings potential of Agios' mitapavit, even as it works with the FDA to "achieve alignment on the confirmatory clinical trial required for submission."
Clearly, Agios ' path to approval is longer and probably more uncertain.
