Anesiva halts pain drug program after failure

Anesiva has shuttered its development program for an experimental anesthetic after its failed to demonstrate any therapeutic effect in a small Phase I trial. Anesiva was developing 1207 for neuropathic pain. Its shares dropped slightly in early trading.

"While we are disappointed that we did not see positive efficacy in this trial, our primary focus is on our two most advanced pain product candidates--Zingo, for which we recently filed a New Drug Application, and 4975, which is expected to enter pivotal trials later this year," stated John P. McLaughlin, chief executive officer of Anesiva.

- check out the press release
- heres the AP report on the trial failure