(Bloomberg) — Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. shares fell the most in 16 years after Pfizer Inc. ended the two companies’ partnership to develop a new gene therapy to treat hemophilia A.
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Sangamo is considering “all options” to continue developing the drug, including finding a new partner, the company said in a statement Monday.
The experimental medicine met its goal in a pivotal late-stage trial, and Sangamo said Pfizer had previously indicated that it expected to file for US and European approval in early 2025.
“We were extremely surprised and very disappointed” by Pfizer’s change of heart, Sangamo Chief Executive Officer Sandy Macrae said in a phone interview. The company learned of the decision on Dec. 22, he said.
Shares of Sangamo fell as much as 56% when markets opened on Tuesday in New York, their biggest drop since Nov. 11, 2008. That plunge was tied to disappointing results from a drug to treat diabetic nerve damage. The stock had quadrupled this year before Sangamo disclosed Pfizer’s decision.
Sangamo has struggled with liquidity issues, and had $39.2 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30. The company had been in line for up to $220 million in milestone payments under the agreement for the drug, called giroctocogene fitelparvovec, according to Macrae. The company’s market value was just below $500 million before the Pfizer news hit.
Hemophilia A makes people more susceptible to bleeding and typically requires lifelong therapy. There are at least a dozen approved treatments, according to research from TD Cowen. Another gene therapy for hemophilia A developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has been a commercial disappointment.
Pfizer said in an emailed statement that its analysis led it to believe “there is limited interest in an additional gene therapy option in this patient population at this time.”
Shares of Pfizer gained as much as 0.9% at the market open. The company has been looking for new drugs as sales of its Covid shot and pill have plummeted.
–With assistance from Kit Rees.
(Updates shares from first paragraph.)
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