The recently approved breast cancer drug, Verzenio, by Eli Lilly failed to meet the late-stage trial goal of improving the overall survival of lung cancer patients. Reportedly, the U.S. based drug maker tested the drug in patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer with KRAS mutations, whose initial cancer therapies remained ineffective. Verzenio, chemically dubbed as abemaciclib, comes under the newer class of oral medicines, CDK 4/6 inhibitors, that is claimed to limit the rapid division and proliferation of cancer cells. Last month, Verzenio received an FDA approval where it was designated safe to be used for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, and reportedly, became a prominent name in breast cancer therapeutics market.Allegedly, Eli Lilly had a hard stroke with regards to its industry position over the past year, with the delay of rheumatoid arthritis drug trailed by the historic failure of its experimental Alzheimer’s treatment. The latest drug trial failure is yet another huge blow to the company in terms of its valuation in breast cancer therapeutics industry. Though the ultimate result of the Verzenio trial turned out to be unsuccessful, the breast cancer drug showed some improvements pertaining to the secondary goal parameters such as improvement in overall patient response and progression free survival in patients, cite reliable sources.
Despite the primary failure of Verzenio corresponding to its the late-stage trial, Eli Lilly is presently conducting several other trials in order to evaluate Verzenio’s impact on non-small cell lung cancer patients, which include a combination trial with chemotherapy or Keytruda as well. In fact, it has been also reported that the American drugmaker has no plans of discontinuing these ongoing trials. Seemingly, lung cancer, is presently the largest oncology business space in U.S. In a bid to leverage maximum potential opportunities of the growing market, Eli Lilly, the so far renowned breast cancer therapeutics market giant, has been experimenting with its patent product in lung cancer patients.
As an aftermath of consecutive failure with regards to its drug trial goal, Eli Lilly’s share fell by almost 1.2% this Tuesday, cite reliable sources.