Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNCE) is seeing red.
The market closes in twenty minutes, which doesn’t give the Lexington, Massachusetts-based company enough time to try and make a comeback. As of this writing, Concert Pharmaceuticals is trading at $20.25, putting the stock down $7.43, or 26.88%.
But hey, at least, or so it seems, it isn’t going to end the trading day down more than 30%, right?
What Happened?
Concert Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, witnessed a sharp decline after it announced to the public that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, which is a part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has rejected the motion to grant the company’s Post Grant Review petition.
For those who don’t know, Concert Pharmaceutical filed a Post Grant Review petition back in July of last year in which it challenged the soundness of Incyte Pharmaceuticals Patent No. 9,662,335 which deals with deuterated ruxolitinib analogs.
It seems that Concert Pharmaceuticals is not the only one disappointed that the PTAB has decided not to grant the PGR; it appears investors are as well, considering the stock dropped so significantly after the company announced that the grant had been rejected. Either that or investors are disappointed that the company had been focusing on the PGR petition for so long, only for it to backfire.
Further, it is unfortunate to see the stock take such a hit due to the rejection as Concert Pharmaceuticals has actually been doing reasonably well on the market as of late, hitting new 52-week highs everyday throughout the time frame of December 7 to December 19.
Regardless, Concert Pharmaceuticals isn’t ready to accept defeat just yet. CEO Roger Tung stated that the PTAB decision “does not prohibit us from challenging the validity of the patent at a later time in federal court,” adding that it doesn’t expect, due to today’s announcement, to have any “disruptions to our clinical timelines.”
On the upside, the company did disclose some positive news today, stating that the FDA has granted fast track designation to the company’s CTP-543, which will be used to treat alopecia areata, which is a hair-loss condition. However, that didn’t seem to resonate in investors minds as much as the rejection of the grant did.
Featured Image: twitter
