SPOTLIGHT: Cancer drug flunks Phase III

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals and ASKA Pharmaceutical said that a late-stage trial of Tavocept failed to produce a statistically significant response in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers say that the small number of patients in the trial was probably responsible for the failure, though it highlighted the fact that researchers observed a 50 percent decrease in severe sporadic or cumulative neuropathy. "A surprising and medically important observation from the trial was an observed increase in the median survival time for patients receiving Tavocept as compared to those receiving placebo." Release