Neurocrine Biosciences announced that its Phase III trial evaluating valbenazine for dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) did not meet its primary or key secondary endpoints. The trial involved children and adults with DCP, who received either valbenazine or a placebo once daily for 14 weeks. The main goal was to measure changes in the severity of chorea, which are involuntary movements common in DCP.
The company, based in San Diego, has not yet released detailed data from the study. Secondary outcomes included other motor symptoms and aspects of DCP. Valbenazine is already marketed by Neurocrine as Ingrezza for tardive dyskinesia and Huntington’s disease-related chorea.
Analysts at William Blair commented that the result is disappointing because there are currently no approved treatments for DCP. They also noted that this indication represented a small part of their valuation model for Neurocrine, so removing it had minimal effect on their target share price or investment thesis. Following the news, Neurocrine’s shares fell by 1.55% to $145.25 in premarket trading.
Neurocrine’s press release did not specify future plans for valbenazine in DCP. William Blair analysts stated that investors will now focus on Neurocrine’s performance and strategy going into 2026.
Sales of Ingrezza rose by 12% to $687 million in the third quarter. Investors have been watching negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act concerning Teva Pharmaceuticals’ Austedo, a competing drug. After Teva agreed to reduce Austedo’s price by 38%, BMO Capital Markets analysts wrote that “the ‘relatively low discount’ reads as a positive for Neurocrine’s Ingrezza.” Eric Benevich, chief commercial officer at Neurocrine, said at a Piper Sandler event earlier this month that the situation is “very manageable,” and added: “we expect to maintain coverage in 2027 and continue to grow.”
Another area of focus for Neurocrine is Crenessity, which received FDA approval one year ago for congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The company reported $98 million in sales for Crenessity during the third quarter. At the same Piper Sandler event, chief financial officer Matt Abernethy said: “we’re not satisfied with where we’re at” regarding Crenessity sales and added: “we’re going to accelerate that path to peak.”
Neurocrine continues work on late-stage neuropsychiatry programs and an early-stage obesity pipeline discussed at its recent R&D day. According to BMO analysts, there were “positive neuropsych updates followed by puzzling disclosures around new efforts in obesity.” They expressed concern about whether Neurocrine can achieve strong returns on investments in obesity research.
