Praxis Precision Medicine plummets 27% on clinical hold on lead drug

• Recent IPO Praxis Precision Medicines (PRAX -27.0%) craters on average volume in reaction to the FDA's clinical hold on its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for lead candidate PRAX-114, an extrasynaptic-preferring GABAa receptor positive allosteric modulator, for the potential treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) and perimenopausal depression.
• The company says the agency has not explained the reason for the hold, which prohibits the start of its planned Phase 2/3 clinical trial in MDD, only saying that its comments have yet to be finalized.