NuCana’s retooled chemotherapy candidate Acelarin has come up short in phase 3 again. The latest failure wipes out hopes that NuCana’s attempt to improve on gemcitabine, sold by Eli Lilly as Gemzar, will drive improved outcomes in biliary cancer.
NuCana, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) has issued a positive opinion for orphan drug designation of Acelarin for the treatment of patients with biliary tract cancer. Acelarin, in combination with cisplatin, is currently being evaluated in a global phase III study (NuTide:121) for the first-line treatment of patients with biliary tract cancer.