Bavarian Nordic slumps as it discontinues RSV program

Shares of Denmark-based vaccine developer Bavarian Nordic (OMX: BAVA) plummeted 21% to 148.80 Danish kroner yesterday, after it announced that its Phase III clinical trial of MVA-BN RSV, a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate for adults ≥60 years of age did not meet all the primary endpoints of preventing lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) from RSV.

The final study results showed that the vaccine candidate had a 59% efficacy in preventing at least two pre-defined LRTD symptoms meeting one of the efficacy criteria of the study. However, when measuring more severe LRTD based on at least three pre-defined symptoms, the vaccine candidate only demonstrated a 42.9% efficacy and missed the co-primary endpoint of the study.

Based on this outcome, Bavarian Nordic will discontinue its RSV program, including its partnership with China’s Nuance Pharma to develop and launch the vaccine for selected Asian markets.