How Bad Is This News for Vertex Pharmaceuticals?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) climbed as much as 32% from the start of the year through the middle of last month. The company was on a roll when it came to good news. Its cystic fibrosis (CF) platform continued to bring in billion-dollar revenue and profit. Vertex said it would apply for the regulatory approval of a potential blockbuster treatment for blood disorders by the end of the year. And the company announced positive results from a phase 2 trial of its non-opioid pain candidate.

So, there've been plenty of reasons for investors to cheer. But earlier this week a new announcement darkened the picture a bit. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed one of Vertex's clinical trials on clinical hold. The study is for a candidate that eventually may cure type 1 diabetes (T1D). Now the question is: How bad is this news for Vertex? And what should you do as investor? Let's find out.

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Source Fool.com