Schering-Plough drug trial suspended - analyst
Wed Dec 6, 2006 10:51am ET30
Schering-Plough drug trial suspended - analyst
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Late-stage trials of an experimental rhematoid arthritis drug being developed by Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have been suspended, but problems that led to the suspension could soon be resolved, a Prudential Equity analyst said on Wednesday.
The drug, called golimumab, would be sold in the United States by Johnson & Johnson and overseas by Schering-Plough. It is part of the same partnership under which the companies sell Remicade, one of the world's top-selling treatments for the potentially crippling form of arthritis.
Prudential analyst Tim Anderson said the suspension relates to Phase III trials that are evaluating injections of golimumab.
"As worrisome as this may initially appear, we understand it is related to a temporary glitch in logistics and the provision of clinical supplies to trial sites -- it is not related to manufacturing of the underlying drug," Anderson said in a research note.
Anderson said the situation apparently could be fixed "in the not-so-distant future, but until then, all further enrollment has been suspended." |
