Shares of Agile Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AGRX) trebled Thursday, rising 223.8% to $1.20 at the market's close following a near-unanimous FDA adcom vote the day before supporting approval for the company's transdermal contraceptive patch, Twirla (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol).
Agile Therapeutics Inc. didn't feel much love Wednesday from FDA reviewers who questioned the efficacy of its Twirla birth control patch, but it got a warm embrace from the Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee, which voted 14-1, with one abstention, that Twirla's benefits outweigh its risks.
FDA approval of Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), a new therapy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) offering improved gastrointestinal tolerability over Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), marks a win for its co-developers, Biogen Inc. and Alkermes plc, while triggering a $150 million payment from Biogen to its partner to mark the milestone. Biogen will also pay Alkermes a royalty on worldwide sales of the product.