Mucositis trial results depress HGS' shares

Human Genome Sciences has suffered something of a setback in itsdevelopment of repifermin (keratinocyte growth factor-2) as a treatment for cancer chemotherapy-induced mucositis, after the results of two Phase IIa studies, presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting, failed to support the efficacy of the drug.

While the company emphasized that the primary endpoint in the studies was safety, a measure on which the systemically-administered drug performed well, the lack of any indication of efficacy drove HGS' share price down 8% on the day of the announcement, and a further 5% through the remainder of the Marketletter's reporting period to close at $34.04.

HGS also said that the dosing schedule used in the study which looked at intravenous administration of repifermin after patients had undergone high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, was no longer considered optimal. The firm added that it would be conducting an extension to the trial in order to look at giving the drug both before and after the chemotherapy/transplantation protocol.