AstraZeneca’s shares were down today following the failure of the company’s experimental cancer drug Recentin, generically known as cediranib, against Roche's Avastin. The drug did not meet its primary endpoint in the Horizon phase III study, a negative result expected by analysts.
However, the company said it would wait for data from a second late stage trial before deciding whether to file for the drug’s approval.
"While we recognised that challenging Avastin would be a high hurdle, it is still disappointing, despite evidence of clinical activity with Recentin, not to have met the primary endpoint in this study," AstraZeneca's head of oncology Alan Barge said in a statement.
AstraZeneca developed Recentin, a pill, to take on Roche's Avastin, an injection. Both treatments are designed to starve tumors by preventing them from building blood vessels.
According to AstraZeneca, the Horizon phase III study was only the first of two studies for Recentin in colorectal cancer. The other study Horizon II, tests Recentin combined with chemotherapy against chemotherapy alone. Data is expected in the coming months.
Barge said the results of the second trial would provide "further information on whether Recentin may provide benefit for patients with colorectal cancer and will inform any decision about possible regulatory filings".
According to Thomson Pharma consensus forecasts, Recentin could reach sales of around $329 million by 2013.
In January, AstraZeneca predicted of revenues of $28 billion to $34 billion over 2010 to 2014, including $4 billion to $6 billion of revenues from new drugs, products in development and licensing deals.
However, the company said it would wait for data from a second late stage trial before deciding whether to file for the drug’s approval.
"While we recognised that challenging Avastin would be a high hurdle, it is still disappointing, despite evidence of clinical activity with Recentin, not to have met the primary endpoint in this study," AstraZeneca's head of oncology Alan Barge said in a statement.
AstraZeneca developed Recentin, a pill, to take on Roche's Avastin, an injection. Both treatments are designed to starve tumors by preventing them from building blood vessels.
According to AstraZeneca, the Horizon phase III study was only the first of two studies for Recentin in colorectal cancer. The other study Horizon II, tests Recentin combined with chemotherapy against chemotherapy alone. Data is expected in the coming months.
Barge said the results of the second trial would provide "further information on whether Recentin may provide benefit for patients with colorectal cancer and will inform any decision about possible regulatory filings".
According to Thomson Pharma consensus forecasts, Recentin could reach sales of around $329 million by 2013.
In January, AstraZeneca predicted of revenues of $28 billion to $34 billion over 2010 to 2014, including $4 billion to $6 billion of revenues from new drugs, products in development and licensing deals.
