Shares in Ovoca Bio plunged as much as 82% on Thursday after the company announced the failure of its Phase II trial of Orenetide for women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). "We are surprised and disappointed that the study did not have a positive conclusion regarding the superiority of Orenetide versus placebo," remarked Daniil Nemenov, senior vice president for clinical development and operations.The dose-ranging trial was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of a range of daily administered Orenetide doses on a lack or loss of sexual desire experienced by participants prior to the study. According to Ovoca, the trial did not show statistically significant superiority of Orenetide versus placebo on the co-primary endpoints of sexual desire, as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) desire domain, and the degree to which a participant is bothered by low sexual desire, as measured by the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS-DAO).Ovoca completed enrolment of 667 women in the trial in July last year, but results were delayed due to issues at a contract research organisation running the study in Australia. The company indicated on Thursday that it will complete a detailed investigation of the findings and then determine whether to continue development of Orenetide, a synthetic peptide administered through a nasal spray.