Merrimack pharmaceuticals stops trial of breast cancer drug - The Boston Globe

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Jessica Rinaldi/Globe team of workers/file 2015

interior a lab at Merrimack prescribed drugs in Cambridge.

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Shares of Merrimack prescription drugs Inc. tumbled Wednesday after it halted a medical trial of an experimental breast melanoma drug, bowing to an outside panel's finding that the medicine probably wouldn't work superior than remedies already on the market.

The unbiased monitoring board — a group of specialists who propose investigators in high-possibility clinical reports — analyzed meantime statistics from Merrimack's mid-stage study of its drug for patients with HER2-superb metastatic breast melanoma who had up to now been handled with two different medication.

It concluded that the disorder's development wasn't stopped for long in sufferers taking the Cambridge enterprise's drug. carrying on with the study, it noted, "can be not likely to display benefit over the comparator cures," Merrimack said. The enterprise said the panel's suggestion became proven through a so-referred to as "futility evaluation" before it made the choice to stop the trial.

Merrimack spoke of "there were no new or sudden security issues" from the drug — known as MM-302 — and docs might decide to proceed patients from the trial on the therapy.

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The enterprise's stock retreated 18.5 % to $4.37 on the Nasdaq trade Wednesday.

The business, established in 2000 by using scientists at Harvard institution and the Massachusetts Institute of expertise, went public in 2012, raising $a hundred million. It has several other experimental cancer medication in clinical trials, concentrated on every thing from lung melanoma to advanced solid tumors. It's additionally testing other compounds in its Cambridge labs.

In a statement, Istvan Molnar, vice chairman of clinical development, observed the enterprise become dissatisfied with the outcome of its MM-302 look at. Merrimack will supply greater details concerning the application and a review of its complete drug development pipeline subsequent month. business officers did not reply to requests for further comment.

last yr, Merrimack received meals and Drug Administration approval of a drug to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer. That medicine, sold under the manufacturer identify Onivyde, is used as part of a mix routine with a two-drug chemotherapy. It became accepted for US sale to treat sufferers with pancreatic cancer that improved after medicine with a unique chemotherapy.

but the company has struggled financially, posting losses of $50.eight million in the second quarter and $30.1 million within the third quarter.

In October, longtime chief govt Robert Mulroy all of sudden resigned. Merrimack, which named Gary Crocker as intervening time CEO, talked about it might cut greater than 20 p.c of its 425-grownup body of workers as it reviewed the prospects of its drug candidates and took steps to enhance its economic standing.

The company is now searching for a new chief executive.

Robert Weisman may also be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com. observe him on Twitter @GlobeRobW.