British Biotech Under Fire In Lancet Letter

A letter in the Lancet (July 27) from researchers at the Royal Marsden and St Bartholomew's Hospitals in London has suggested that the changes in tumor marker levels seen by British Biotech in its trials of marimastat could be a result of natural fluctuations in levels and not a result of any activity of the drug.

The company responded in the same issue, noting that the UK researchers' comments were made on the basis of just one small study (19 patients), while much larger trials reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting earlier this year showed a clear dose effect for the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor. British Biotech stresses that the efficacy of the drug can only be deduced from the outcomes of large-scale, controlled studies, which are ongoing.