Testing in the middle of the trial Atea PharmaceuticalsThe company stated Tuesday that Covid-19 did not achieve its main objective of decreasing the SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients who aren’t hospitalized with mild to moderate diseases.

In premarket trading, Atea’s share price fell 70.9% to $11.78

In partnership with Roche, the company develops the oral drug AT-527. Both companies collaborate on numerous studies to test the drug’s effectiveness in treating Covid-19.

At-527 showed no clear decrease in SARS-CoV-2 virus load during the middle-stage trial compared with placebo. However, it did show a significant reduction in viral loads in patients at high risk with chronic health conditions.

There were many variables, such as different vaccine variants that emerged during the research, that could have had an impact on the final results.

Atea indicated that, based on its latest findings and the changing Covid-19 environment it has modified an ongoing late stage study to test the drug with non-hospitalized patients suffering from mild or moderate Covid-19. This modification will include modifications to the main purpose and patient population.

The company expects to have late-stage data from trials in 2022 instead of the last half of 2019.