Agios scraps blood cancer drug program after study miss

Agios Pharmaceuticals said on Friday it will stop developing its experimental drug for a form of blood cancer after a mid-stage trial failed to show enough benefit.

The drugmaker's shares fell 1.3% in premarket trading.

The company said the 65-patient study did not meet the predefined threshold for developing the drug, named tebapivat, to treat lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of diseases in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells.

The drugmaker said tebapivat was generally well-tolerated, with no new safety concerns.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it will continue testing the drug for sickle cell disease, with early results expected in the second half of 2026.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 4:21 AM.