Antisoma drug flunks ovarian cancer trial

The UK's Antisoma says that its experimental therapy for ovarian cancer has failed a clinical trial, triggering a swift loss of about one fifth of the company's share value. The mid-stage trial of ASA404 showed no increase in time to tumor progression when added to chemotherapy. Antisoma still has high hopes, though, that the therapy will prove convincingly effective against lung cancer. Novartis, which inked an $890 million pact on the drug in April, is preparing a Phase III study. "Based on these data, development in ovarian cancer will not be a priority," Antisoma said in a statement.

- see the release
- read the report on the trial results from MarketWatch

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