Sarissa Capital Management LP, a hedge fund run by investor Carl Icahn's former healthcare lieutenant, has taken a 6.22 percent stake in the wounded biotechnology company Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. Ariad's shares have fallen more than 80 percent since Oct. 9, when it announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had placed a partial hold on patient enrollment in clinical trials of its cancer drug Iclusig due to safety concerns.Two days later the FDA said an investigation into heart risks associated with Iclusig showed that at least 20 percent of patients experienced blood clots or a narrowing of the veins.On Oct. 18, Ariad said it would discontinue a trial known as Epic that was testing Iclusig against Novartis AG's Gleevec in patients with previously untreated chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a blood cancer due to an increased risk of blood clots in the arteries.The drug won approval in December to treat CML and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in patients who had failed to respond to at least one other therapy. Ariad had hoped to expand use of the drug to newly diagnosed patients.
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARIAD) is a global oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for the cancer patients. Shares of ARIA fell by 7.79% or $-0.32/share to $3.79. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $15.35 and as high as $25.40. On average, 2427120 shares of ARIA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 14094749.
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