Intercept down 25% after FDA warns on Ocaliva death risk

USA-based Intercept Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ICPT) closed 25% down at $73.70 at the end of trading on Thursday.

Investors were evidently spooked by a safety communication that the US Food and Drug Administration issued on Ocaliva (obeticholic acid), Intercept’s drug used for a rare, chronic liver disease known as primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

The FDA warning mentioned not just those taking a higher-than-recommended dosing of Ocaliva being left with an increased risk of serious liver injury and death, but also the chance of injury in some patients with mild disease who are receiving the correct dose.