AstraZeneca is stopping a clinical trial of Recentin as a treatment for lung cancer after a mid-stage study failed to meet its main goal, although trials in colorectal cancer will move ahead.
The mixed news on Wednesday adds to the company's patchy record on drug research at a time when its two top medicines face the threat of generic competition.
Recentin, which is given as a pill, is a rival to Roche Holding AG and Genentech Inc's blockbuster injectable treatment Avastin. It was being tested against non-small-cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said Recentin had shown some evidence of clinical activity in lung cancer but a phase II/III trial would not progress into phase III because among patients given the drug "there appeared to be an imbalance in toxicity".
John Patterson, the company's executive director for development, said AstraZenenca remained committed to investigating the potential of Recentin in lung cancer, despite the setback, which he said could be due to the dosage used.
AstraZeneca used a higher dose of Recentin in the lung cancer trial than in the colorectal trial.
"It may well be that we simply haven't got the dosage right," Patterson told reporters on the sidelines of an Economist pharmaceuticals conference.
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