ZURICH— Roche Holding AG RO.EB -3.70% said Monday that an independent committee had recommended the drug giant cancel a late-stage test of a lung cancer treatment because the therapy failed to produce meaningful results, the latest setback to the company's pipeline.
Basel-based Roche said a phase III study of onartuzumab, a drug developed to control certain types of non-small cell lung cancer, lacked "clinically meaningful efficacy." The study was designed to measure whether onartuzumab, used with the oral drug Tarceva, helped previously treated patients live longer compared to treatment with Tarceva alone.
Roche said in a statement it was evaluating the study and how it might affect the company's development of the drug.
"These results are disappointing because new options are needed for patients with lung cancer, the most common and deadly cancer world-wide," said Dr. Sandra Horning, Roche's chief medical officer and head of global product development.
The outcome marks another setback for Roche's research-and-development efforts, which have suffered a series of failures and cancellations in recent months. In January, Roche said a schizophrenia treatment it is developing failed to meet its main goal in two late-stage clinical trials. Like onartuzumab, the schizophrenia drug was in phase III testing, the final stage of human testing before drugs are submitted to regulators for approval.
Last year, the company halted the development of a diabetes drug partially because of the side effects it caused. Earlier, Roche scrubbed plans to develop a compound designed to boost the level of good cholesterol in a patients' blood.
Analysts said the committee's recommendation was disappointing but likely would have little impact on Roche's financial performance.
Fabian Wenner, who runs health care research at brokerage Kepler Cheuvreux, said onartuzumab, which is also known as MetMab, was unlikely to generate enough revenue to move the needle for Roche.
Mr. Wenner estimated that onartuzumab, if approved, would generate peak revenue of $1.1 billion in 2020, just over the threshold to be considered a blockbuster, the industry's shorthand for drugs that produce more than $1 billion in sales annually.
—Marta Falconi contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Morse at andrew.morse@wsj.com
News Source: online.wsj.com
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