Pfizer said Tuesday its experimental hemophilia treatment cut down on bleeding episodes in a pivotal study. But Pfizer stock dipped.
The drug is a under-the-skin injection administered once a week. It targets TFPI, an inhibitor in the body that prevents blood clots from forming. Pfizer hopes its drug, called marstacimab, will help reestablish balance between bleeding and clot formation.
Researchers tested marstacimab in 116 people with either hemophilia A or hemophilia B. Pfizer said marstacimab-treated patients had a 92% reduction in annualized bleeding rates compared with a 35% drop for patients on standard treatments.
Yet on today's stock market, Pfizer stock fell less than 2% to 37.02. Shares remain below their key moving averages, according to MarketSmith.com, but sparked last week on enthusiasm for the company's oral diabetes and weight-loss treatment.
Pfizer Stock And Hemophilia Treatment
Patients with hemophilia A don't make enough of a blood-clotting protein called factor 8. And, Type B patients don't make enough of the factor 9 protein.
Hemophilia patients often experience potentially life-threatening bleeding episodes. And regular factor infusions can be burdensome, said Chris Boshoff, Pfizer's chief development officer of oncology and rare diseases.
"Despite significant treatment advances in recent years, many people living with hemophilia unfortunately continue to experience bleeding episodes and are required to manage their disease with frequent intravenous infusions," Boshoff said in a written statement.
Over a year, patients received either marstacimab or factor treatment. Bullishly for Pfizer stock, marstacimab led to a statistically significant reduction in bleeding rates. Importantly, marstacimab uses a fixed dose, meaning it doesn't vary based on weight. Further, it would be the first hemophilia treatment that uses a fixed dose.
Safety Questions Likely Persist
Pfizer's approach is "certainly differentiated," Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat said in a note to clients. Most hemophilia treatments address the factor deficiency. Pfizer's plays on the other side: Decrease the amount of anticoagulation. But Pfizer isn't totally in the clear when it comes to safety, he said.
The mechanism Pfizer is using could cause clotting problems. Novo Nordisk and Bayer also tested TFPI blockers. Novo had to temporarily halt its test due to non-fatal clotting episodes. This month, the Food and Drug Administration rejected its request for approval. Bayer tossed out its TFPI due to clotting episodes.
Pfizer noted there were no clotting events and no incidents of consumptive coagulopathy among its patients. The latter is a bleeding disorder due to low levels of platelets and pro-clotting factors. But Raffat notes clotting events are rare, so it's possible they wouldn't show up in a small study.
"Safety profile in ongoing studies and future exposure remains key," he said.
Raffat has an outperform rating on Pfizer stock.
Shares Struggle To Make A Comeback
Pfizer stock is struggling amid an expected decline in sales of its Covid vaccine and treatment.
Shares have a middling IBD Digital Composite Rating of 67 out of a best-possible 99. This puts Pfizer stock below the top one-quarter of all stocks when it comes to fundamental and technical measures.
The stock also has a low Relative Strength Rating of 22. The RS Rating tracks running 12-month performance on a 1-99 scale. At this time last year, Pfizer stock had an RS Rating of 92.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
