Antisoma falls on ASA404 Phase III halt

Antisoma plc (LSE:ASM) fell 24p (75%) to 8p on Monday after partner Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) stopped the Phase III ATTRACT-1 trial of ASA404 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Antisoma said an interim analysis showed that there was "little or no prospect" that ASA404 plus carboplatin and paclitaxel would meet its primary endpoint of significantly improving overall survival vs. placebo plus chemotherapy. The double-blind, international trial enrolled 1,200 previously untreated NSCLC patients. ASA404 is a small molecule derivative of xanthenone acetic acid that acts as a tumor specific vascular targeting agent (VTA). The Phase III ATTRACT-2 trial evaluating docetaxel plus ASA404 as second-line therapy for NSCLC is ongoing. ...