By Xavier Martinez
Erasca is on pace to lose about $2.7 billion in market value Tuesday after disclosing that a patient who took its experimental cancer drug died.
Monday afternoon, in a presentation to investors, Erasca disclosed that a patient in one of its pancreatic cancer trials developed serious lung inflammation a month into taking the company's experimental medication, stopped treatment and ultimately died.
"It was a very rare event," Chief Executive Jonathan Lim said, adding a trial investigator had suggested that "if the patient had continued supportive care, the outcome might have been different."
The death overshadowed a result that Lim said showed the company's drug compared "favorably" with rival drugs in development. Shares were down 48% Tuesday afternoon.
Erasca's results combined data from two separate trials-one in the U.S., one in China-that had different rules for patient selection. The company didn't disclose safety data from the China study, which analysts at TD Cowen said left questions.
The drug's results diverged in China and the U.S., analysts said. Erasca said 41% of patients in its pancreatic cancer trial in China saw their tumors shrink, compared to just 14% of patients in the U.S. trial on similar doses, according to TD Cowen.
"Data was sliced in many different ways, which is typically a red flag for investors," wrote Stifel analyst Laura Prendergast in a note on Tuesday.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2026 15:58 ET (19:58 GMT)
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