Amgen’s novel lung cancer drug disappoints in phase III
pharmafile | April 1, 2011 | News story | Research and Development | Amgen, Millennium, NSCLC, Takeda, motesanib, non-small cell lung cancer
Amgen’s lung cancer drug motesanib has not meet its primary endpoint in a phase III study.
The drug, developed in conjunction with Takeda’s oncology arm Millennium, failed to increase overall survival in advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer patients in combination with two chemotherapy agents.
Roger Perlmutter, VP of R&D at Amgen, said: “We are disappointed with the results from this trial, but look forward to further analysis of the data which may ultimately help inform future research in this area.”
The trial had a number of secondary endpoints, including progression-free survival, but data on these have not yet been published.
Amgen said detailed results would be submitted at an upcoming medical congress.
Motesanib is a highly novel candidate, combining antagonists against three mutations in NSCLC, and the first drug of its kind to reach phase III.
The orally administered small molecule targets the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) 1, 2, and 3, platelet-derived growth factor receptors and stem cell factor receptor.
The current standard treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) include AstraZeneca’s Iressa and Roche’s Tarceva, which both target the endothelial growth factor receptors.
The disease has one of the highest mortality rates of any cancer and recent trials have repeatedly failed to produce a new drug for the disease.
These failures include Sanofi-Aventis’ aflibercept, Novartis’ ASA404 and Pfizer’s figitumumab.
But it has not been all bad news. Pfizer’s ALK gene inhibitor crizotinib impressed in phase II studies presented at last year’s American cancer congress.
In January the drug was given a rolling track status by the FDA that could see it on the market in early 2012.
Ben Adams
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