Vanda says anxiety drug failed main goal of late — stage study, puts program on hold

Oct 14 (Reuters) — Vanda Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday its experimental drug for social anxiety disorder failed the main goal of a late-stage study, prompting the company to put the program on hold pending further analysis of the data. Shares of the biopharmaceutical company were down about 17% in extended trading. The study did not show that the drug, VQW-765, reduced anxiety compared to placebo during a public-speaking stress test, the company said, adding that it also missed a key secondary goal in the broader study population The late-stage trial enrolled 546 adults with social anxiety disorder at about 30 sites across the United States The study was designed to confirm findings from an earlier mid-stage trial, which had suggested the drug could reduce anxiety symptoms, Vanda said The late-stage results did not confirm the earlier findings, it said The VQW-765 development program, Vanda said, is on hold while it reviews the full dataset The drug was safe and well tolerated, consistent with prior studies, it said (Reporting by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar) ((Sahil.Pandey@thomsonreuters.com;)