(Reuters) - Canadian drugmaker Aeterna Zentaris Inc said it would discontinue a late-stage trial of a cancer drug after an independent data safety monitoring committee said the drug was unlikely to help increase patient survival.
Shares of the company fell as much as 29 percent to C$1.89 on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The committee recommended that patient enrollment be stopped and the study discontinued for perifosine, the company said in a statement.
The drug is being studied to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer that starts in plasma cells in bone marrow and disrupts the production of normal blood cells.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration granted perifosine an orphan-drug designation in September 2009 as well as a fast-track designation in December 2009.
The late-stage trial compared the efficacy and safety of perifosine to a placebo when combined with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma.
The committee also said it was highly unlikely that the study would achieve a significant difference in its primary endpoint and progression free survival, or increasing survival of patients without the cancer worsening.
(Reporting by Shounak Dasgupta in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/aeterna-zentaris-stop-stage-cancer-drug-trial-shares-182552925--finance.html
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