US Pre-Market: Ionis Falls 19%, Alnylam Rises 17%
Alina Collins
Ionis and AstraZeneca's late-stage heart-disease drug Wainua failed its clinical trial, sending Ionis down 19% while rival Alnylam surged 17%; geopolitical tensions from a second US strike on Iran added pressure across mega-cap tech.
Wainua trial failed — who loses, who gains?
Ionis Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca's gene-silencing drug Wainua — a therapy that "switches off" a disease-causing gene to treat rare fatal heart conditions — failed to show it could prevent cardiac events in a late-stage trial.
Ionis plunged 19% pre-market; AstraZeneca fell in London.
This means → rivals benefit directly: Alnylam jumped 17% and Bridgebio rose 13%, as markets read Wainua's exit as improved odds for competing drugs.
In plain terms = one strong runner dropped out of the race, and the remaining contenders instantly became more valuable.
How are the Magnificent Seven trading?
Big tech was broadly under pressure: Microsoft down 1%, Amazon –0.6%, Alphabet –0.3%, Apple –0.2%.
Meta was flat; Nvidia and Tesla each rose 0.2% — the only two gainers among the seven.
This reflects short-term risk-off sentiment toward richly valued tech amid escalating geopolitical risk.
Why is IBM down another 3%?
IBM fell 3% pre-market after reports that Starbucks is using AI to build proprietary internal tools that could replace some enterprise software it currently buys from IBM.
This means → if the "build-it-yourself" trend spreads among large enterprise clients, IBM's software moat erodes gradually.
What other single-stock moves stand out?
Salesforce down 4% — KeyBanc downgraded to "sector weight," citing weak momentum in its Agentforce AI product.
Levi Strauss down 4% — raised full-year guidance, but the increase fell short of investor expectations.
Mattel down 2% — Goldman Sachs cut to "sell" from "neutral," lowering the target to $12 from $15, the lowest on Wall Street.
Simply Good Foods up 13% — Q3 adjusted EPS beat the analyst consensus.
Where do index futures and the geopolitical backdrop stand?
S&P 500 futures up 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.7%, Dow futures down 0.1%.
The backdrop: a second round of US strikes on Iran, followed by Tehran retaliating against US allies in the Persian Gulf.
This means → geopolitical conflict has not fully crushed risk appetite, but the Dow's slight dip signals traditional-sector capital is sitting on the sidelines.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.