ZAFGEN ANNIHILATED ON 2nd TRIAL PATIENT DEATH

Kill me once, shame on me. Kill me twice, you’re a fucking murderer.

Shares of Zafgen are being crushed this morning, down more than 60% due to a 2nd trial patient death, for their obesity drug. This is an incredibly sad outcome; but it’s also really fucked up that a second trial patient had to die in order for the fuckheads who run this company to finally understand their drug doesn’t work.

The biopharmaceutical company said it learned Tuesday that a patient being treated with beloranib for Prader-Willi syndrome was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary emboli—blood clots to the lung—and died.

The patient was receiving the drug during the open-label extension portion of the late-stage trial, which hadn’t been halted.

Prader-Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder that results in life-threatening obesity because of unrelenting hunger. There is no cure for the disease, which affects one in 12,000 to 15,000 people, according to the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association.

In October, Zafgen disclosed that a patient had died during the beloranib study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed beloranib on partial clinical hold because of the thromboembolic events—blood clots that move after forming and block other vessels—in other trials of beloranib and the unknown nature of that death.

 

I spoke about this a few month’s ago, during the first patient death and how it reminded me of the phen-phen disaster of the 90’s. ZFGN should be crushed into eternity. Maybe Martin Shkreli will buy this company too, when its shares touchdown under $2.