BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Mechanism matters

Vismodegib, saridegib shed light on hedgehog inhibition in specific cancers

March 5, 2012 8:00 AM UTC

The different mechanisms by which the hedgehog pathway drives specific cancers could explain why Genentech Inc.'s Erivedge vismodegib received FDA approval for advanced basal cell carcinoma while Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s saridegib failed in pancreatic cancer.

In January, Infinity reported data from 122 patients in the double-blind Phase II portion of a Phase Ib/II trial in metastatic pancreatic cancer. Saridegib plus gemcitabine produced median overall survival of <6 months, worse than in the arm receiving gemcitabine plus placebo...