Xoma has announced that it has discontinued development of its CD5 Plus antibody product for patients with graft-versus-host disease. The company said that its decision was based on the equivocal results of its recently-concluded Phase III trial of the antibody, which were presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in Nashville, USA, towards the end of last year (Marketletter December 12, 1994).
"While the trial results indicate that CD5 Plus showed activity in this difficult to manage disease, the product did not meet our criteria for commercial development," said John Castello, president and chief executive of Xoma. As an orphan drug, CD5 Plus was not expected to be economically significant to the company, he said, adding that "for the past two years, we have placed primary emphasis on the accelerated development of our Neuprex (recombinant bactericidal/permeability increasing protein) product."
CD5 Plus would have addressed an estimated annual worldwide market of between 1,500 and 3,000 patients with GVHD. Neuprex is being developed for sepsis and a number of other indications, including infectious diseases, and will enter Phase II efficacy trials over the next 12 months, he said.
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