Pliant Therapeutics Pauses Enrollment And Dosing In BEACON-IPF Trial, Stock In Freefall

(RTTNews) - Pliant Therapeutics Inc. (PLRX) suffered a major blow on Friday, with its shares tumbling nearly 35% in regular trading and plunging another 58% to $3.27 in after-hours, following an update on its BEACON-IPF trial.

BEACON-IPF is a phase IIb/III trial evaluating the company's lead drug candidate Bexotegrast in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

On Friday (Feb.7, 2025), the company announced that it has voluntarily paused enrollment and dosing in its BEACON-IPF trial following a prespecified data review and recommendations by the trial's independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). Data is being reviewed to understand the reasoning behind the DSMB's recommendation. The company noted that it would maintain the blinding of the study to preserve trial integrity.

The phase IIb portion of the BEACON-IPF trial is designed to enroll 360 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Enrollment for this part of the study was originally expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2025, with data expected in mid-2026. However, with enrollment now paused, it is uncertain whether the timeline will be met as planned.

PLRX has traded in a range of $7.18 to $18.00 in the last 1 year. The stock closed Friday's trading at $7.79, down 34.81%. In after-hours, the stock fell another 58% to $3.27.