---
title: "Major drugmaker loses $27 billion in market value after failed trial"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/292179367.md"
description: "AstraZeneca and Ionis Pharmaceuticals saw their stock prices plummet after a late-stage trial for their joint heart disease drug, Wainua, failed to show statistically significant benefits. AstraZeneca's market value dropped by approximately $27 billion, while Ionis shares fell over 17%. The failure impacts the treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy."
datetime: "2026-07-09T09:53:29.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/292179367.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292179367.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/292179367.md)
generator: "portal-rs"
---

# Major drugmaker loses $27 billion in market value after failed trial

By Nora Redmond

Shares in AstraZeneca and Ionis decline on heart drug trial failure

AstraZeneca's stock fell about 8% in London.

Shares in AstraZeneca and Ionis Pharmaceuticals slid on Thursday after the companies announced that a heart disease drug they had been developing together failed a late-stage trial.

Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (UK:AZN) announced in a statement on Thursday that the Wainua medicine, a gene silencer to be administered once a month via syringe, "did not provide a statistically significant benefit" in deaths related to cardiovascular health.

The Cambridge, England-headquartered company's stock declined close to 8% on London's stock exchange and was the top laggard in the U.K.'s flagship FTSE 100 index UK:UKX. Its shares (AZN) are down 8% in premarket trading in New York.

The decline equates to an approximately GBP20 billion ($27 billion) decline in its market value.

Shares in Ionis (IONS), a Carlsbud, California-based company, tumbled more than 17% in premarket trading in New York.

"Although the trial did not meet its primary objective, we believe the results support greater scientific understanding of treatment approaches for the hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide suffering from this progressive and often fatal condition," Sharon Barr, executive vice president for biopharmaceutical research and development at AstraZeneca, said in a statement.

"AstraZeneca's latest update was more bitter than sweet as it said the drugs don't work," Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, wrote in a note on Thursday. "It meant the U.K. market was the only major European index to be in the red."

The drug was intended to treat patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy, a cardiovascular disease that results from proteins building up in the heart, and affects between 300,000 and 500,000 people globally, according to Ionis's estimates.

Analysts at Jefferies, led by Michael Leuchten, wrote in a note on Thursday that the real risk from the failed trial for AstraZeneca is "probably a degree of credibility loss," adding that management had been highly confident in the drug's ability.

-Nora Redmond

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-09-26 0553ET

### Related Stocks

- [AZN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AZN.US.md)
- [IONS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IONS.US.md)
- [AZN.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AZN.UK.md)
- [JEF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JEF.US.md)

## Related News & Research

- [Cramer's lightning round: 'I am not going to put my money on AstraZeneca'](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298373941.md)
- [Novartis, Ionis drug failure spurs questions about an emerging class of heart medicines](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298506182.md)
- [Health Rounds: AstraZeneca drug reduces lung disease flare-ups in late-stage trials](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298355260.md)
- [RBC Capital Reaffirms Their Buy Rating on AstraZeneca (AZN)](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298372812.md)
- [Ionis Drug Wins FDA Approval as First Alexander Disease Treatment](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298038703.md)

---
> **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**