Alder BioPharma Stock Drops Nearly 20% As Investors Shrug Off Positive Migraine Drug Results

Alder BioPharmaceuticals Inc. stock dropped 19.5% in extremely heavy morning trade Tuesday after the company released positive results for its late-stage migraine prevention drug. The drug, eptinezumab, met the primary and key secondary endpoints in a phase 3 trial, and the company plans to file with the Food and Drug Administration for approval in the second half of next year. Patients on eptinezumab had on average 4.3 fewer monthly migraine days on a higher dose of the drug and 3.9 fewer days on a lower dose, compared with 3.2 fewer days on average for patients on the placebo. However, investors noted that while the drug showed a statistically significant reduction in migraine days, the results did not appear much better than those for the placebo. Moreover, Alder -- a clinical-stage biotech company -- faces some stiff competition from Amgen Inc. , Eli Lilly & Co. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Co. , large pharmaceutical companies developing other migraine prevention drugs, all of whom have either already filed for approval or have plans to do so this year. Alder shares have dropped 29.9% over the last three months to $15.10, compared with a 4.1% rise in the S&P 500 .