Bristol-Myers Squibb has revealed that its Phase II trial testing the combination of cabiralizumab with Opdivo (nivolumab) with and without chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer has fallen short of success.
The company broke the news to Five Prime Theraputics, the clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cabiralizumab, saying that the trial did not meet its primary endpoint.
The US pharma giant, however, said that it will continue to support the evaluation of cabiralizumab in select, ongoing investigator-sponsored trials and may continue to assess future development opportunities for the investigational asset.
“Pancreatic cancer is a difficult disease to treat, and unfortunately the combination of cabiralizumab and Opdivo with and without chemotherapy did not show any meaningful benefit over standard of care chemotherapy in this randomised, controlled Phase II trial,” said Helen Collins, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Five Prime Therapeutics.
She went on to say the company is “disappointed by this outcome”, and that it “appreciates the participation of the investigators, staff, patients, caregivers, and our development partner who all contributed to the conduct and completion of this Phase II clinical trial.”
Towards the end of last year, Cancer Research UK invested £373k in to finding new ways to diagnose pancreatic cancer at an earlier stage, coinciding with the launch of Cancer Research UK’s “Right Now” campaign, which aims to show both the realities of the disease and the positive impact research and improved treatments can have on people’s lives.
