What happened
Shares of Biotechnology Unit (NASDAQ: UBX) fell 63% today after the company announced disappointing results from a clinical trial with its leading drug candidate, UBX0101.
At the 12-week mark of a phase 2 study, the pipeline asset failed at its primary endpoint to alleviate moderate to severe painful osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. In fact, there were no statistically significant differences between each dose of UBX0101 and placebo.
With entry at 1:22 a.m. EDT had adjusted the stock with small caps to a loss of 61.3%.
Image Source: Getty Images.
So what
Unity Biotechnology is developing a drug pipeline based on the idea that deleting senescence cells, as cells that stop dividing, can help treat or reverse age-related diseases. The idea has existed for decades and has begun to gain traction in recent years with new developments in living technologies.
Of course, many cellular mechanisms and biomolecules often have multiple roles in the body. Proteins that trigger processes to reduce inflammation in some settings can trigger processes that increase inflammation in other settings. Similarly, senescence cells are not always a sign of age-related disease. They play important roles from the development of embryos to the health of centenarians.
It is possible that a mechanism to control senescent cell populations in captivity related to age-related diseases – while sparing health-related cell populations – will be discovered and commercialized, but there are simply too many unknown for investors to bet on with confidence. each pipeline as technology.
Well what
Unity Biotechnology reported that it will complete the data collection through the 24-week mark of the Phase 2 trial, although it does not intend to advance UBX0101 in Phase 3 trials. The next most advanced pipeline asset is UBX1325, which has yet to conduct clinical trials. Given the lack of data to support the pipeline, the $ 250 million valuation on Unity seems almost equal, if not unequivocal.
