(Reuters) – XenoPort Inc’s psoriasis drug showed high rates of gastrointestinal-related side effects, overshadowing its success in a mid-stage study.
The company’s shares, which rose as much as 19 percent premarket, fell sharply in regular trading after the company said on a conference call that a third of its patients in the study dropped out due to the side effects.
During the trial of the drug, XP23829, in patients suffering from the chronic skin disease, adverse events related to diarrhea were 22-40 percent in the drug group, compared with 15 percent in the placebo group, the company said.
