Antisoma cancer drug fails in phase III
pharmafile | March 29, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | Antisoma, NSCLC, lung cancer
UK biotech Antisoma has suffered a disappointing late-stage failure with a potential lung cancer treatment it was developing with Novartis.
Trial data of its ASA404 candidate showed that continuing the trial would be “futile”, with little or no prospect of demonstrating a survival benefit.
Chief executive Glyn Edwards said: “We are disappointed by the outcome of the Attract-1 study, especially given the very encouraging phase II data reported in the same setting.
“We had hoped that this trial would show that use of ASA404 could improve treatment for patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.”
Antisoma had been evaluating the drug in previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer and will now concentrate on AS1413, its other late-stage product that is currently in phase III trials for acute myeloid leukaemia.
Its big pharma partner Novartis is also in collaboration with Transgene for treatment of NSCLC with their TG4010, with phase IIb trials expected to progress to final-stage this year.
Antisoma’s failure compounds a dismal year for research into treatments for NSCLC.
Merck halted a cancer vaccine it was developing for multiple indications, including NSCLC, after evidence emerged of a potentially fatal brain swelling in trial patients.
Meanwhile Pfizer continued its phase III candidate figitumumab in phase III and the FDA rejected Adventrx’s vinorelbine after the company failed to supply the regulatory body with enough data.
Roche and OSI Pharma’s Tarceva (erlotinib) is the current standard of care for patients with NSCLC who are stable after receiving chemotherapy and last year the drug made sales of $1.2 billion.
NSCLC accounts for around 80% of all lung cancers and it has one of the highest cancer mortality rates due to its proximity to the lymph nodes and the original growth point.
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