Icagen said the independent panel, which analyzed data for safety, efficacy and futility of the drug candidate to treat sickle cell disease, requested additional information on the study but did not raise any specific safety concerns.
The committee recommended to continue enrollment for patients on concurrent hydroxyurea therapy, it added.
The patients taken off the study were not on concurrent hydroxyurea therapy and they will now enter an eight-week follow-up phase, the company said in a statement.
The committee will be given additional data and "we expect the second meeting to be completed in the third quarter," a company official said during a conference call with analysts.
"We have no additional information to share about the recommendations and will be reluctant to speculate on the DMC's rationale for any other decisions," Kay Wagoner, Icagen's chief executive, told analysts.
Icagen shares were down $3.05 at $1.19 in afternoon trade on the Nasdaq after crashing to 86 cents earlier in the day. More than 40 percent of the company's shares changed hands.
FDA INFORMED
The company said it has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the recommendations of the committee.
Sickle cell disease is a chronic and debilitating genetic blood disorder, primarily affecting individuals of African descent. It will lead to a variety of complications and significantly shorten lifespan in the majority of patients.
The company said it had received both fast track designation and orphan drug status from the FDA for the oral drug candidate, codenamed ICA-17043.
In January, the company had said the data monitoring panel had recommended to continue with the study after a first protocol interim safety review. At that time, the company had enrolled about 300 patients for the study.
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