William Blair downgraded Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN) to “market perform” after the company released interim data from a Phase trial of ALRN-6924 as a chemoprotectant in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Shares of Aileron were down 23% to 32 cents at mid-day on June 29.
Analyst Matt Phipps, Ph.D., writes there were no clear trends in the composite primary endpoint of proportion of treatment cycles free of grade 3 or higher neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, blood transfusions, use of growth factors, or dose reductions or delays within the first four cycles of treatment, with 56% of patients free from these events on ALRN-6924 versus 50% on placebo.
Based on the trial data and additional healthy volunteer data that has been conducted, management is now reassessing the proper dose of ALRN-6924, with plans to evaluate a higher dose in the ongoing neoadjuvant breast cancer trial, Dr. Phipps said.
“While this is likely the right decision, the lack of clear data from the NSCLC trial and the ongoing questions around optimal dosing leave us with less confidence in the next steps for ALRN-6924, and we are therefore downgrading our recommendation to market perform,” he added.
Following the results of this interim analysis, Dr. Phipps said Aileron has elected to forego additional enrollment in the NSCLC trial and instead will focus resources on the recently initiated Phase 1b trial in ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
