On September 8, Amgen declined 6.48% in regular trading, trading at $408.46 per share, with turnover of $85.2352 million. The selloff was triggered by the spillover impact from Novartis's Phase III clinical trial failure of its Lp(a)-targeting cardiovascular drug Pelacarsen, coupled with an analyst downgrade.
Novartis disclosed on September 4 that Pelacarsen, co-developed with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, failed to meet the primary endpoint in the LpHORIZON Phase III trial — a landmark study enrolling 8,323 patients over six years and the first-ever outcomes trial validating whether lowering Lp(a) reduces cardiovascular events. The failure raised broad concerns over the commercial viability of the entire Lp(a) target class, directly pressuring Amgen, which is developing the similarly targeted Olpasiran. Notably, Ionis Pharmaceuticals also fell 9.8% on the day.
Adding to the headwinds, BMO Capital downgraded Amgen to Market Perform from Outperform with a $450 price target. Analysts broadly noted that Novartis's failure weakens but does not entirely invalidate the Lp(a) thesis, with Amgen's upcoming full Olpasiran trial data now seen as the pivotal catalyst for the target's future.
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