Shares of Pain Therapeutics plunged this morning after the company reported that a late-stage trial of its painkiller Oxytrex failed due to high dropout rates among patients in the study. The dropouts made it impossible to establish statistical significance in the results, though researchers said that the data demonstrated that Oxytrex is 28 percent less addictive than oxycodone, the active ingredient in Oxycontin. Researchers had expected a 40 percent dropout rate but instead saw 48 percent to 60 percent fall away in the group taking Oxytrex, as opposed to the 37 percent dropout rate in the placebo group.
"We believe the weight of all evidence, including prior clinical and non-clinical data, continues to favor Oxytrex over oxycodone," said Remi Barbier, president and CEO of Pain Therapeutics. "We remain steadfast to the Oxytrex program and its ability to reduce physical dependency."
- read this AP report for more