Novartis' patupilone fails phase III trial

Novartis has announced that its investigative compound, patupilone (EPO906), has failed a phase III trial of patients with advanced ovarian cancer, refractory or resistant to platinum-based therapy.

The compound was tested in a phase III study carried out in around 168 sites across 22 countries. The randomised study, which involved 829 patients with epithelial ovarian, primary fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer, compared patupilone with Doxil/Caelyx (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin).

The primary endpoint of the trial was overall survival. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, safety and overall response rate. Patupilone did not show a significant overall survival advantage. Based on this, Novartis does not plan to proceed with regulatory filings based on these data.