Eli Lilly And Co (LLY) Stock: Falling Apart On Failed Study

Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) is having an incredibly rough day in the market today. After starting the day off in the red, the stock has fallen further and further throughout the day. Below, we’ll talk about what we’re seeing from the stock, why, and what we’ll be watching for with regard to LLY ahead.

What We’re Seeing From LLY

As mentioned above, Eli Lilly isn’t having the best of trading sessions today by any means. Unfortunately, the stock was in the red at the opening bell and has been falling further and further ever since. At the moment (12:29), LLY is trading at $67.86 per share after a loss of $8.13 per share or 10.70% thus far today.

 – This article appeared first on ModestMoney.com.

Why The Stock Is Falling Apart

As soon as I noticed that Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) was taking a dive, I started to do some digging to see if I could figure out exactly what was causing the movement. It didn’t take long to dig up the story. Unfortunately, the stock is diving as a result of poor clinical data.

LLY has been working on a treatment known as solanezumab for some time now. In fact, the clinical-phase treatment was in the midst of a Phase 3 clinical study focused on treating mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, the company announced today that it did not meet its primary endpoint.

In the study, patients that were treated with solanezumab were expected to experience a statistically significant slowing in cognitive decline compared to patients treated with a placebo. Unfortunately, the study did not come to this conclusion. Although secondary endpoints did come in favor of solanezumab, the miss of the primary endpoint is leading to big declines in LLY.

Along with the announcement, John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., CEO, Chairman and President at Eli Lilly had the following to offer…

“The results of the solanezumab EXPEDITION3 trial were not what we had hoped for and we are disappointed for the millions of people waiting for a potential disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease… We will evaluate the impact of these results on the development plans for solanezumab and our other Alzheimer’s pipeline assets.”

What I’m Expecting To See Ahead

While this is a big hit to Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), I believe that we’re seeing the worst of the declines at the moment. With several other treatments on the market and several other promising treatments in their pipeline, the stock will likely quickly recover from today’s bad news.

What Do You Think?

Where do you think LLY is headed moving forward? Join the discussion in the comments below!