Japan Factor Resurfaces

Although an increased rate of interstitial lung disease caused partner Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. to suspend a Phase III trial of tivantinib for non-small cell lung cancer, ArQule Inc. believes the phenomenon is specific to the Japanese population and thus won't affect development of the compound elsewhere.

Kyowa, which has rights to tivantinib in Japan and other Asian countries, suspended enrollment in the Japanese Phase III ATTENTION trial late last month after seeing an imbalance in interstitial lung disease in the treatment arms...