Another disappointment for Cotellic and Tecentriq combo in melanoma

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), US biotech Exelixis (Nasdaq: EXEL) has said it was informed last week by its collaboration partner Genentech, a US subsidiary of the Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), that the IMspire170 trial had failed to achieve pre-set goals.

The Phase III trial evaluating the combination of Cotellic (cobimetinib), an Exelixis-discovered MEK inhibitor, and Tecentriq (atezolizumab), an anti-PDL1 antibody discovered and developed by Genentech, did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival compared to pembrolizumab, a current standard of care, in patients with previously untreated BRAF V600 wild-type advanced melanoma.

Investors seemed unconcerned about the clinical-trial failure, with Exelixis' shares ending Friday up 1.09% at $21.37, despite a pre-market fall of 5%. Shares of Roche, which did not make any announcement on the trial disappointment, were down a modest 0.4% at 276.00 Swiss francs by early afternoon today.