Bayer AG (OTC:BAYRY) has discontinued the development of eliapixant and will hand back full rights to the drug to Evotec SE (NASDAQ:EVO).

• The companies were developing the candidate for refractory chronic cough (RCC).
• Bayer “concluded that the overall benefit no longer outweighs the risk in the actively pursued indications,” according to a release.
• Evotec said it would wait on upcoming data before deciding what to do with eliapixant next.
• The drug is a P2X3 inhibitor, with recent Phase 2b data showing a significant decrease in cough counts over placebo. 
• Eliapixant 75 mg twice daily reduced hourly cough frequency up to 27% over placebo after 12 weeks of treatment.
• Price Action: EVO shares are down 14.9% at $17.50 during the market session on the last check Friday.