Share of Veru Inc. VERU plunged 31.0% toward a 2 1/2-year low in premarket Friday, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turned down the biopharmaceutical company’s request for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for sabizabulin, its treatment for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who are at high risk for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The company said that although the FDA declined the EUA request, “the FDA remains committed to working with the company for the development of sabizabulin.” Separately, the company expects to soon provide details of the timing and design of a proposed confirmatory Phase 3 study it submitted, that could support a new EUA authorization. The stock has already tumbled 31.3% over the past three months through Thursday, while the iShares Biotechnology exchange-traded fund IBB has shed 7.3% and the S&P 500 SPX has slipped 2.2%.
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