Finally, AstraZeneca has decided to withdraw its Exanta drug worldwide following a case of serious liver injury, throwing in the towel on the anticoagulant which was rejected by U.S. regulators in 2004.
Europe's third largest drug maker said on Tuesday it had decided to terminate all development of the product, which was once touted as a potential $3 billion-a-year seller but failed to take off in those markets where it was approved.
AstraZeneca said Exanta was being prescribed commercially for approximately 400 patients for the short-term prevention of venous thromboembolism after surgery, with a further 600 or so people taking it in clinical trials that will now be halted.
Sales in 2005 totalled just $575,000. Exanta has been marketed in Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Argentina and Brazil.
The company said the withdrawal had been triggered by new safety data and a report of serious liver injury in one patient. A company spokesman said the patient had received appropriate treatment but declined to give further details.
Insiders' view: Exanta, the blockbuster that never was! It should never have been launched and the people who should have pulled it a long time ago must now take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror.
Source: Reuters
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