According to a story from Reuters, the drug development company Merrimack Pharmaceuticals decided to abort its development of a new treatment for pancreatic cancer. The company chose to let go of the experimental drug after it failed to satisfy both first and secondary goals in the company’s latest trial. With the abandonment of this product, the company says that it will instead redirect its priorities to develop drugs for other forms of cancer, such as lung cancer and breast cancer.
About Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer affects the pancreas, a glandular organ that is situated behind the stomach. Affected cells multiply in an abnormal fashion to form a tumor and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. There are multiple types of pancreatic cancer. Risk factors include old age, being male, being African-American, pancreatitis, obesity, diabetes, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and a diet high in red meat, processed meat, or meat cooked at exceptionally high temperatures. In a small percentage of cases, genetic factors may also play a role. Symptoms include constipation, nausea , abdominal pain, back pain, sudden weight loss, and jaundice. Pancreatic cancer rarely causes symptoms in its early stages, meaning it has often spread when it is diagnosed. The average five year survival rate for the most common types is very poor, at only five percent. To learn more about pancreatic cancer, click here.
About MM-141
The treatment in question was known as MM-141. The drug was not being developed as a therapy to be used on its own, but was instead intended to supplant the current standard of treatment. MM-141 was meant for patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The failure of the investigational drug to perform to expectations in trials is a significant disappointment, as pancreatic cancer responds poorly to current treatments and is in desperate need of a breakthrough to improve long term survival. Only 25 percent of patients even survive for a year after diagnosis, and even when the cancer is discovered early, the five year survival rate is still just 20 percent.
Merrimack stock shares plunged 23.5 percent after the announcement.
