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 OncoMed's shares plummeted after it also said that Germany's Bayer
AG had decided to not exercise an option to license two of the U.S.
company's other experimental therapies, vantictumab and ipafricept,
for "strategic reasons."
The stock, which fell as much as 43.6 percent to a record low of
$4.94, was the biggest percentage loser on the Nasdaq in afternoon
trading.
OncoMed's demcizumab, Celgene Corp's Abraxane and chemotherapy
versus a combination of Abraxane, chemotherapy and a placebo were
tested in the pancreatic cancer trial. The main goal was to slow
disease progression.
An analysis of data from the study, YOSEMITE, did not signal an
overall survival benefit either, OncoMed said.
Based on the lack of benefit over standard-of-care, which performed
remarkably well, the company will discontinue the trial, Chief
Executive Paul Hastings said, adding that the company plans to
discontinue any additional enrollment in other ongoing demcizumab
trials.
This is a major setback for OncoMed and for cancer stem cell targets
more broadly, which have been a difficult area of drug development,
Leerink's Michael Schmidt said in a research note.
OncoMed is also testing demcizumab in combination with Merck's
Keytruda as a treatment for a type of lung cancer. OncoMed has
already stopped another lung cancer study testing demcizumab.
An analysis of both studies is expected to be submitted to Celgene
who can opt into the program. But "given YOSEMITE results we think
opt-in is unlikely," Schmidt said.
YOSEMITE failed but other potential value drivers remain, Wells
Fargo analysts said in a note.
[to top of second column] |
OncoMed's other experimental stem cell therapy, tarextumab, is also
being evaluated as a treatment for lung cancer. Data from this
mid-stage study is expected later this year, and will be submitted
to partner GlaxoSmithKline Plc who can opt-into the program.
In January 2016, an independent panel of safety monitors said they
had observed worsening response rates in pancreatic cancer patients
taking tarextumab despite its clean safety profile.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related
deaths in the United States. Each year, nearly 54,000 cases are
diagnosed, and some 43,000 succumb to the disease, according to the
American Cancer Society.
(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sriraj Kalluvila and Maju Samuel)
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