Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) said Friday that it will stop development of its experimental cancer drug enzastaurin after the medicine failed in a Phase III clinical trial that evaluated it as a monotherapy in the prevention of relapse in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
The study, called PRELUDE, failed to show a statistically significant increase compared to placebo in disease-free survival in patients at high risk of relapse following rituximab-based chemotherapy.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a sub-type of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is a cancer of the body's lymphatic system consisting of clonal proliferation of immune cells.
Lilly expects the decision to stop development of enzastaurin o result in a second quarter charge to R&D expense of about $30 million.
"We are disappointed in the results that we're announcing today," said Richard Gaynor, M.D., vice president, product development and medical affairs for Lilly Oncology. "However, our oncology pipeline is still one of the most robust across the industry containing more than 20 molecules, including two Phase III molecules in five different tumor types."
Lilly shares are currently trading at $54.56, unchanged.
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