While the study failures are a significant setback for Assembly, they’re not a major surprise for a company whose market value has hovered around $100 million, Jefferies analyst Dennis Ding wrote in a note to clients. “The Street didn’t expect the trials to work anyway,” he wrote.
Indeed, the company’s plans to shift priorities and reorganize gave a boost to the stock. Shares of Assembly rose as much as 9%, to about $2.40, in early trading Thursday.
