Agenus (AGEN) said Friday that it is withdrawing its biologics license application for cervical cancer drug candidate balstilimab at the recommendation of the US Food and Drug Administration, following the approval of pembrolizumab.
Shares of the company dropped about 22% Friday afternoon.
The company will also discontinue its ongoing confirmatory trial on balstilimab but will still move ahead with its development plans for balstilimab combinations. It will launch a development program combining balstilimab with AGEN1181 in multiple tumor types.
The discontinuation of the Brava clinical trial is expected to reduce research and development expenses by more than $100 million, the clinical-stage drugmaker said.
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