Amgen stops Vectibix trial on poor efficacy and AE profile: good news for Erbitux

Amgen has discontinued a study of its cancer drug Vectibix (panitumumab). The world biotechnology major terminated the PACCE trial after the drug demonstrated increased toxicity and inferior efficacy.

Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Vectibix for the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized following standard chemotherapy (Marketletter October 9, 2006). The PACCE trial was evaluating the drug in the first-line setting and could have supported its use in a much larger patient population.

The drug, which is a monoclonal antibody that binds to a protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) on some cancer cells, received an accelerated approval after showing effectiveness in slowing tumor growth and, in some cases, reducing the size of the tumor.