Updated: Zura Bio's mid-stage clinical trial for skin disease drug fails

Updated share price movements and added analyst comment in point 5

Sahil Pandey

Reuters, November 9 - Zura Bio (ZURA.O) said on Monday that its experimental drug failed to meet the primary endpoint in a mid-stage clinical trial for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic skin disease that causes painful lumps under the skin.

The biotech company's share price dropped by more than 75% in early trading.

• The company stated that tibulizumab failed to achieve the primary endpoint of the study, as it did not show greater efficacy than placebo in reducing abscesses and inflammatory skin nodules after 16 weeks

• Key secondary endpoints were also not met, including measures such as the proportion of patients achieving at least a 50% and 75% reduction in lesions

• Zura said it will halt the development of tibulizumab for hidradenitis suppurativa, but will continue to study its use in systemic sclerosis (which can cause hardening of skin and internal organs) and polymyalgia rheumatica (an inflammatory disease that causes muscle pain and stiffness)

• The company reported that, as of September 30, its cash and cash equivalents were $187.7 million, and it expects this funding to support planned operations at least through the end of 2028

• Martin Fan, an analyst at Wedbush, said the sell-off was an overreaction, noting Zura's $1.47 per share cash reserves and the systemic sclerosis trial results scheduled for the first half of 2027—which he believes are unrelated to the failed dermatology trial

• The trial enrolled 247 adults with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa, who were randomly assigned to receive one of two doses of tibulizumab or placebo

• The company stated that the two doses of tibulizumab reduced lesion counts by 56% and 58.1%, respectively, while the placebo group saw a reduction of 52.5%

• The company added that the drug was well tolerated, and that a death in the high-dose group was deemed by investigators as unrelated to the treatment

  
  

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