Bristol-Myers Squibb said yesterday that it would be terminating an agreement with privately-held US firm, Corgentech, to jointly develop and commercialise the latter’s E2F Decoy (edifoligide), after the product failed to meet its endpoints in a trial assessing its potential to prevent vein graft failure following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
The two firms first hooked up back in 2003 in a deal that was to net Corgentech up to $250 million dollars in various payments [[14/10/03d]].
The Phase III trial, known as Prevent IV, included some 3,000 patients undergoing CABG surgery. Its primary endpoint was the percentage reduction in the incidence of graft failure between the groups treated with Corgentech’s E2F Decoy or placebo. Corgentech says it is not planning to develop E2F Decoy further, but will be starting clinical trials of NF-kappaB Decoy in eczema shortly. The company also claims to have a “deep pipeline of products” and will be selecting its next clinical candidate later in the year.
