Acadia Shares Hurting On Reports Of Nuplazid Deaths

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACAD faded 24 percent Monday after CNN exposed the deaths of more than 700 Nuplazid patients since the drug’s June 2016 launch.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recorded 1,860 serious cases of adverse events among Nuplazid users between 2016 and 2017.

Why It’s Important

The drug represented $125 million, or about 17.3 percent, of Acadia’s 2017 revenue.

FDA intervention — review, sales suspension or discontinuation — could delay continued profits or necessitate heightened expenses for additional research.

What’s Next

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, which in 2017 first raised an alarm about the mortality trends, said the deaths are “an important warning signal” and merit FDA review.

The FDA told CNN it would merely continue to monitor Nuplazid reports. It maintained that the drug’s benefits still outweigh the risks.

"Based on these data, the FDA has, at this time, not identified a specific safety issue that is not already adequately described in the product labeling," the agency said in a statement.

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