AB Science Shares Plunge as EU Panel Fails to Back Medicine

AB Science SA failed to win backing from a European Union advisory panel for masitinib to treat intestinal tract cancers, a setback in its plan to expand use of a medicine currently applied only on dogs. The shares plunged.

Masitinib was rejected by the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors that are resistant to first-line treatments, the Paris-based company said in a statement late yesterday. AB Science said it will appeal the decision. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, usually follows the panel’s recommendation.