NEW YORK, Sept. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Centessa Pharmaceutical plc (“CNTA” or the “Company”) CNTA. Those investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, extension 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Centessa and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other illegal business practices.

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On or about May 27, 2021, Centessa completed its initial public offering (“IPO”), selling 16.5 American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) at a price of $20.00 per share. Then, on June 2, 2022, Centessa issued a press release announc[ing] that it made the strategic decision to discontinue development of lixivaptan in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), including both the phase 3 ACTION trial and the open-label ALERT trial.[t]The decision is based on a thorough reassessment of the commercial potential of lixivaptan as a potential best-in-class therapy for patients with ADPKD, as well as the incremental development challenges and associated costs following recent observation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) elevations in one subject in the ALERT study.”

As a result of this news, Centessa’s ADS price fell $1.25 per share, or 27.78%, to close at $3.25 per share on June 2, 2022.

Then, on August 10, 2022, Centessa issued a press release announc[ing] its decision to discontinue development of ZF874 following a recent report of an adverse event (AE) with elevated liver enzymes (AST/ALT) in a PiMZ subject receiving ZF874 at 5 mg/kg BID in the Phase 1 study was,” explained Centessa “[b]Based on the results observed to date, the Company concluded that ZF874 is unlikely to achieve the desired target product profile.”

Due to this news, Centessa’s ADS price fell sharply during intraday trading on August 10, 2022.