Ipsen battered by news of palovarotene NDA withdrawal

French drugmaker Ipsen (Euronext: IPN) has opted to withdraw its New Drug Application (NDA) for the rare disease drug palovarotene.

Ipsen, which was trading 12% lower as Friday’s trading day neared its end, made the decision following discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Palovarotene is an oral, investigational, selective RARγ agonist for the prevention of heterotropic ossification as a potential treatment for people living with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), an ultra-rare genetic disorder with an estimated prevalence of 1.36 per million individuals globally.