Anacor Pharma (Nasdaq: ANAC) drops as study enrollment is stopped

Tallahassee, FL 2/6/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ANAC) dropped more than 8 percent Monday after the company said its partner GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK) stopped enrolling patients in studies of an anti-infection drug.

THE SPARK: Anacor said the halt resulted from "a recently identified microbiological finding in a small number of patients."

CEO David Perry said Anacor will work with GlaxoSmithKline to understand the finding, a process that could take several months. Investigators will decide if people already enrolled in the studies will continue to take the drug.

The drug, GSK2251052, is in a mid-stage clinical study as a treatment for complicated urinary tract infections. GlaxoSmithKline is also stopping enrolling patients in a mid-stage study involving patients with abdominal infections, and two studies testing the drug on healthy volunteers.

THE BIG PICTURE: Anacor, of Palo Alto, Calif., develops drugs based on the element boron to treat fungal infections and inflammatory conditions like psoriasis, as well as urinary infections. Anacor doesn't have any products on the market. It has partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline of London and Eli Lilly and Co. of Indianapolis.

GlaxoSmithKline paid Anacor $15 million to license GSK2251052 in 2010, and if the drug proceeds through development, gets approved and reaches sales targets, Anacor could get more than $250 million in other payments, as well as royalties.

Shares of Anacor fell 61 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $6.81 by midday.

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