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Biotech / Medical : Sugen (SUGN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (528)	2/10/2002 4:34:43 PM
From: tnsaf	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 550

Pharmacia Announces Closing of SU5416 (semaxanib) Clinical Trials PEAPACK, N.J., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmacia Corporation (NYSE: PHA - news) announced today the company is closing its SU5416 clinical trial program in colorectal cancer under development by its SUGEN, Inc. subsidiary. This decision is based on the results from a planned interim efficacy and safety analysis of a large phase III study of standard chemotherapy with or without SU5416 in the treatment of patients with advanced stage colorectal cancer. This analysis shows that the study will not achieve the defined trial endpoints due to a lack of clinical benefit. The company will also be working closely with all other SU5416 study investigators to bring the remaining trials to an appropriate conclusion. ``We remain confident in the potential of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF-R) target and anti-angiogenic therapy for the treatment of cancer,'' said Laura K. Shawver, Ph.D., president, SUGEN, Inc. ``Our mission is to bring forth novel molecular targeted therapies that provide the best possible benefit to patients.'' SU5416, a small molecule angiogenesis signaling inhibitor, was designed to block the VEGF-R in the blood vessels, thereby inhibiting the blood supply to the tumor. Based on research validating the role of VEGF-R in cancer development, additional studies have evaluated SU5416 in numerous solid tumors and hematologic (blood related) cancers, including trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. ``Angiogenesis inhibitors remain a promising new way to attack cancer,'' said Lee Rosen, M.D., UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and lead investigator SU5416, colorectal cancer. ``It is critical to recognize that the results of these SU5416 clinical trials do not invalidate the VEGF-R target or the entire angiogenesis field. Instead, we will take what we have learned from SU5416 in order to develop the next generation of compounds and studies.''