Thursday, September 26, 2013

Lilly breast cancer drug fails to improve survival in trial

n">(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said its experimental breast cancer drug failed to improve patients' survival without their cancer worsening in a late-stage trial, dashing investors' hopes on one of the company's most talked-about drugs.

Lilly shares fell 5 percent in premarket trade.

The company said it does not plan to submit an approval application for the drug, ramucirumab, for treating advanced breast cancer.

However, a separate trial, testing the drug as a treatment for advanced gastric cancer, met the main goal of improving patients' survival.

Ramucirumab - deemed as one of Lilly's most promising experimental treatments - was being tested in combination with chemotherapy drug docetaxel, and compared with a placebo and docetaxel as initial treatment in patients with advanced breast cancer.

Lilly said it is determining next steps for patients enrolled in the breast cancer trial conducted along with Translational Research in Oncology, an international cancer research group.

Ramucirumab is also being tested in late-stage trials for treating cancers of the colon, lung and liver.

Lilly shares fell 5 percent to $50.14 in trading before the bell. They closed at $52.61 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)


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