Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) Thursday said its lung cancer drug Alimta in combination failed to meet the primary goals of a late-stage study. The study, Pointbreak, showed Alimta in combination with Avastin did not improve the overall survival of patients with a type of lung cancer.
"...We are disappointed with the results of this trial," said Allen Melemed, senior medical director with Lilly Oncology, "Pointbreak did show an improvement in progression-free survival, though this did not translate to an overall survival advantage."
Melemed said that Eli Lilly was hoping to meet the primary goal as Alimta had showed promising results in Phase II trials. The study, however, met one of its secondary endpoints of improved progression-free survival.
Alimta has been approved in Europe and the U.S. for first line treatment of patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients in one arm received a combination of Alimta with bevacizumab, or Avastin, and carboplatin induction followed by Alimta plus bevacizumab maintenance. That group was compared with the "paclitaxel" arm, which received paclitaxel with bevacizumab and carboplatin followed by bevacizumab maintenance.
Avastin is a product of Roche Holdings AG (RHHBY.PK
Eli Lilly intends to present the results on September 7 at the Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.
LLY is currently trading at $ 46.36, up $0.55 or 1.20, on a volume of 3.6 million shares.
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