Vertex Shares Hit Hard On Trial Concerns

Shares of Vertex VRTX are moving lower following a report Bernstein on high failure risk of VX809 trials.

Analyst Geoffrey Porges says he had several conversations with scientists at the European Cystic Fibrosis conference last weekend, which are the basis of his theory that there is high failure risk for Vertex’s phase 3 trial.

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During the first few weeks of the trial, several patients are seeming to have worse symptoms before their conditions improve. In addition, because the effects only seem to be marginal, it may be hard to justify purchase of the medication, according to Porges.

Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on Vertex and $65 price target, cut from $71 on May 2. Shares are currently trading at $67.60, down 8.01 percent on the day.