Drug makers Bristol and Pfizer will be no longer seeking FDA approval for their blood clotting drug called apixaban after it failed in studies
It is now being confirmed that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Pfizer Inc will no longer be seeking FDA approval next year for their jointly marketed blood clotting drug called apixaban, due to it failing in late stage clinical trials.
“Not good news, but not a death knell either,” said Michael Castor, a portfolio manager with health-care fund Sio Capital Management.
The phase III trial was to compare the effectiveness of the drug against one from Sanofi-Aventis called Lovenox.
All the patients that the drug was tested on were undergoing dangerous knee replacement operations, and the two drugs were being compared to determine which would be more effective.
Sadly for Bristol and Pfizer, apixaban did not perform will when given to the patients, thus the companies will not be seeking its approval next year.
“Not to say that apixaban is buried, but this initial poor result is another in a string of poor partnering decisions that Pfizer has recently made,” said Damien Conover, an analyst with Morningstar.
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