Xenon Down On Novel Acne Treatment Failure

Xenon Pharmaceuticals' attempts to treat acne with a SCD-1 inhibitor have met with failure at the Phase II stage, casting doubt on the therapeutic strategy and wiping more than 50% of the company's share price.

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Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has dropped its lead internal candidate, XEN801, after it failed to improve moderate to severe acne in a Phase II trial. The development calls into questions this novel approach to the disease and the company's share price dropped by nearly 53% to close at $4.65 on NASDAQ on Mar. 24 when the results were announced.

Top-line data from the trial showed that XEN801 produced no significant difference from vehicle placebo in its primary endpoint of the percent change in total (inflammatory and non-inflammatory) lesion count from baseline to week 12

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