Novartis’ Blockbuster Drug Fails Late-Stage Trial In Disease Causing Blood Vessel Inflammation, But Retail Turns Bullish

Medicine company Novartis (NVS) said on Thursday that a late-stage trial evaluating its drug Cosentyx in adults with newly diagnosed or relapsing giant cell arteritis failed to meet its primary goal of sustained remission.  

Cosentyx was evaluated in combination with a 26-week steroid taper and compared to placebo plus a 52-week steroid taper in the trial. The drug, however, did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in sustained remission at week 52 compared to placebo.

The company said that it will share a full evaluation of the trial data at a later date.

Shares of Novartis were trading 1% lower in the pre-market session.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of systemic vasculitis, a group of rare autoimmune diseases characterized by inflammation of blood vessels. GCA primarily affects people over 50 years of age and has the potential to cause irreversible vision loss and life-threatening aortic aneurysms.

Cosentyx, launched in 2015, is already approved for use in adults with multiple conditions such as psoriatic arthritis, moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa.

It is also approved in pediatric patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, enthesitis-related arthritis, and juvenile psoriatic arthritis.

In the first quarter of 2025, Cosentyx brought in $1,534 million in net sales, marking a growth of 18% at constant currency, as sales grew mainly in the U.S., emerging markets, and Europe.

Cosentyx, in fact, accounted for about 12% of the company’s overall net sales in the quarter.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Novartis jumped from ‘neutral’ to ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours while message volume remained at ‘high’ levels.

NVS stock is up by over 27% this year and by about 16% over the past 12 months.

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