Celtrix back to Square One
Celtrix Pharmaceuticals Inc. is going back to Square One in the ongoing game of biotechnology chutes and ladders. The Santa Clara, Calif., company dropped ophthalmic development of BetaKine TGF-beta-2 after the compound failed to show clinical benefit in a Phase II trial of patients with age-related macular degeneration.
Last October, BetaKine failed to show benefit in a three-month follow up in a Phase III trial in patients with macular holes. CTRX had hoped that 12-month follow up data would be better, but having seen a negative result in the macular degeneration trial, the company decided to discontinue all internal BetaKine ophthalmic studies. As a result, it will also discontinue a pilot study in retinal edema. A Phase I/II study planned by the National Cancer Institute to treat mucositis in chemotherapy patients will go forward, with CTRX supplying drug to the NCI...