One More Thing:Shareholders in pharma group Amarin must have been reaching for the smelling salts on Tuesday evening after watching their stock lose 77 per cent of its value in Dublin to close at just 64 cents. About €200 million was wiped off its market value.
This followed the unexpected revelation that late-stage trials of Miraxion, a drug that was meant to treat Huntington's disease, were a failure. The news caught the market off guard. Davy and Goodbody had only recently upgraded Amarin in the expectation that any update on Miraxion would be positive.
It was a case of deja vu for chairman Tom Lynch, who was Elan's finance chief when its share price fell by 90 per cent in 2002. He acquired Tysabri, a drug that has struggled to live up to Elan's expectations. Lynch owns 18 per cent of Amarin and is no doubt feeling the pain.
With financier Dermot Desmond and John Climax of Icon as backers and $29 million in cash, there's always the possibility of a Lazarus-like return. Goodbody has slapped a "sell" recommendation on the stock. It looks like good advice.
