NuCana PLC stopped bringing in new patients for a late-stage pancreatic cancer study after an analysis deemed that the trial would not be successful.
NuCana's drug Acelarin was developed as a chemotherapy treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The U.K. company was told by the Independent Safety and Data Monitoring Committee that the objective designed at the outset of the study was likely unobtainable according to interim data.
The sponsor of the study, the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, suspended the study to review the data and decide whether to resume it. So far, 25 patients have received the drug, according to an Aug. 20 release from NuCana.
"When we agreed to provide Acelarin for this investigator-sponsored study, we were well aware of the challenges of treating patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer," NuCana CEO Hugh Griffith said.
