Shares of 89bio (NASDAQ: ETNB) closed Tuesday's trading session down by more than 37%. The healthcare company didn't release any news, but its peer, Akero Therapeutics, released disappointing trial data for a nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapy that is similar to one that 89bio is developing. 89bio's stock price is now down by more than 20% year to date.

89bio is a clinical-stage biotech that focuses on liver and cardiometabolic diseases. It recently was granted a Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pegozafermin as a potential treatment for patients with NASH, which is a progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease involving scarring of the liver.

On Tuesday, Akero released phase 2b trial data on efruxifermin that showed the therapy had not reached its primary endpoint toward treating NASH. In the study, the drug was 24% effective, at a dose of 50 milligrams, in showing at least a one-stage improvement in liver fibrosis, with no worsening of NASH, compared to 14% for a placebo. Only 4% of patients in each dose group showed a two-stage or three-stage improvement in fibrosis with no worsening of NASH.

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Source Fool.com