Amgen, Takeda drug fails advanced lung-cancer study

Saturday, 2 April 2011 00:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NEW YORK (Reuters): Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) said their experimental drug, motesanib, had failed to improve overall survival in a late-stage study of patients with advanced lung cancer. The Phase 3 trial of 1,090 patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer did not meet its main goal, the companies said on Wednesday. In the study, all patients received two older cancer drugs, paclitaxel or carboplatin, and either motesanib or a placebo.

Side effects of a serious nature were more frequently reported in patients taking motesanib, the companies said.

The companies released summary, or “top-line”, results of the study and said more details would be presented at a future medical conference. “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,” Roger Perlmutter, Amgen’s Executive Vice President of Research and Development, said in a statement.

The trial, known as MONET1, had been temporarily suspended in November 2008 after higher mortality rates were seen. It was cleared to resume in February 2009, but just for patients with the non-squamous cell form of the disease.

Sales of motesanib have been expected to reach about $ 912 million by 2017, according to

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.