Aspreva Pulls Plans for CellCept
Aspreva Pharmaceuticals
(ASPV)
and partner
Roche
announced Monday they won't proceed with a regulatory submission for CellCept as an induction therapy for lupus nephritis, the most serious manifestation of the autoimmune disease lupus.
The company released preliminary results in June from an induction stage of a phase III trial that indicated it didn't meet its primary objective of demonstrating superiority of CellCept compared to intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVC) for inducing treatment response.
Patients who successfully completed the induction phase of the study, which made up the first six months, entered a maintenance phase comparing the therapy to azathioprine for keeping patients in remission and maintaining kidney function. The company said the study will continue until a certain number of patients have left or for a maximum of 36 months.
Aspreva shares fell $1.11, or 5.5%, to $18.97.