Shares of Athenex Inc. ATNX,
fell 54.6% on Monday in very active afternoon trading, enough to be the biggest drop on major U.S. stock markets, after the Food and Drug Administration said the new drug application (NDA ) from the biopharmaceutical company for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, oral paclitaxel and blinding, is not ready for approval in its current form. Trading volume increased to 40.1 million shares, compared to the full day average of about 1.1 million shares. The company previously said the FDA issued a full response letter (CRL) expressing concerns about the safety risk to patients and recommended that a new clinical trial be conducted. Separately, the company reported a fourth-quarter net loss that extended to $ 49.5 million, or 53 cents per share, from $ 21.7 million or 28 cents per share, in the period. previous year, greater than the FactSet consensus per share. loss of 44 cents. Revenue fell 36.5% to $ 21.8 million, surpassing the $ 20.7 million FactSet consensus. Shares have lost 55.1% in the last twelve months, while the ETS iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB,
has risen 40.2% and the S&P 500 SPX,
has advanced 32.4%.