ASA404 fails second late-stage lung cancer trial

Novartis and its partner Antisoma announced that an interim analysis of data from a late-stage trial showed that vadimezam (ASA404) was unlikely to provide any benefit as a second-line treatment for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. As a result, Novartis indicated that it would halt development of the compound, which was designed to inhibit angiogenesis.

The ATTRACT-2 study enrolled patients with advanced NSCLC whose disease had progressed after first-line therapy. In ATTRACT-1, ASA404 failed to demonstrate a survival benefit in previously untreated patients with NSCLC when used in combination with chemotherapy.