FRANKFURT - Pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG (BAY.XE) said Monday that it had stopped its phase III trial of Nexavar as a skin-cancer treatment as it wasn't as effective as hoped, but said it was keeping to its sales guidance for the drug, which is used to treat other cancers.
"We're disappointed with the results of the study and that the therapy did not bring benefit to patients with melanoma, a historically difficult tumor to treat," said Dimitris Voliotis, Vice President in Global Clinical Oncology at Bayer HealthCare.
Bayer is jointly developing Nexavar with Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX).
A spokesman for the Leverkusen, Germany-based company said it will keep concentrating on treating lung, breast, liver and kidney cancer with its fastest-growing drug. He added that the EUR750 million annual sales guidance for Nexavar didn't include the drug's possible use in skin cancer.
The trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, aimed to improve overall survival of patients receiving Nexavar in combination with chemotherapy, against those receiving a placebo with chemotherapy.
One analyst, who asked not to be named, said the news was slightly disappointing but said he wouldn't change his overall positive stance toward the drug. He added that skin cancer is difficult to treat, and said it's positive that there weren't any distinct side effects from the treatment.
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