Amgen's 6% premarket decline drags the Dow Jones lower, while Novartis trial failures trigger a broader sell-off in related biotech stocks including NewAmsterdam Pharma and Dyne Therapeutics.
Amgen shares are trading lower by approximately 6% following negative clinical trial results from rival Novartis regarding its cardiovascular drug, pelacarsen. As a company targeting lipoprotein(a), the failure of a competitor's late-stage trial creates significant uncertainty regarding the efficacy and market potential of Amgen's own pipeline in the same therapeutic space.
Amgen is falling due to a negative read-across from Novartis' late-stage trial failure for its cardiovascular drug, pelacarsen.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is underperforming the S&P 500 due to its unique price-weighted structure. Because Amgen holds the fourth-highest stock price in the index, its 6% decline accounts for a disproportionate 158-point drop in the Dow, whereas the same move has a negligible impact on the market-cap-weighted S&P 500.
The Dow is price-weighted, meaning high-priced stocks like Amgen have a larger impact on the index's movement compared to the S&P 500.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 0.7% on Tuesday, significantly underperforming the S&P 500. The decline was driven by a 6% drop in Amgen shares, which carries outsized weight in the price-weighted Dow index following negative clinical trial results from rival Novartis.
The Dow is price-weighted, meaning stocks with higher share prices have a larger impact on the index. Amgen, which has the fourth-highest stock price in the Dow, fell 6%, causing a disproportionate drag on the index compared to the S&P 500.