Galapagos, Gilead Halt Clinical Trials of Lung-Disease Treatment

(Bloomberg) -- Galapagos NV and Gilead Sciences Inc. said they are halting late-stage clinical trials of an experimental treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis following a recommendation by the study’s independent monitors.

The drugmakers said in a statement on Wednesday that the trial’s independent data monitoring committee concluded the risk-benefit profile of the autotaxin inhibitor, called ziritaxestat, no longer supported continuing with the trials. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease.

Galapagos shares traded in Amsterdam sank more than 15%, while shares of Gilead were down 0.3% in New York before the start of regular trading.

The late-stage study consisted of two trials that had aimed to enroll 1,500 patients.

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