SNY Sanofi

   By Colin Kellaher 
 

Shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LXRX) fell nearly 10% on Monday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turned away the company's new-drug application for Zynquista, a pill that potentially offered a chance to reduce the number of daily insulin injections for people with Type 1 diabetes.

The Houston biopharmaceutical company and French drugmaker Sanofi SA (SNY), its partner on the drug, on Friday said they received a complete response letter from the FDA, which indicates the agency can't approve the NDA in its current form.

The companies didn't say why the FDA rejected the application and said they will work with the agency to determine the next steps.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan, Stifel and Wedbush all cut their price targets on Lexicon after the setback, but Wedbush said the stock's decline represents a buying opportunity ahead of some "significant near-term catalysts."

Shares of Lexicon fell about 9.7% to $5.60 in Monday morning trading.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2019 11:05 ET (15:05 GMT)

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