Pfizer has suspended a Phase III trial of the investigational drug figitumumab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after a safety comitee found that the drug is unlikely to have any meaningful effect.
An independent Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) recommended A4021018 be stopped after concluding that the addition of figitumumab to erlotinib was unlikely to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of overall survival compared to erlotinib alone in the study population.
Pfizer's Oncology Business Unit senior vice-president of clinical development Dr Mace Rothenberg said that this outcome is disappointing to the firm and to patients with NSCLC.
"We will carefully review our extensive clinical database and use this information to refine the figitumumab clinical programme with the goal of identifying the right patient population in which to evaluate this compound," Rothenburg said.
A fully human monoclonal antibody, figitumumab is designed to inhibit the insulin growth factor-1 receptor pathway, which is considered to trigger uncontrolled growth and survival of tumour cells.
The drug is also being trialled for the potential treatment of prostate, breast and lung cancers, and Ewing's sarcoma.
