sanofi-aventis gives pipeline update
sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) disclosed that it discontinued development of four compounds in Phase III testing and four in Phase II testing because of lack of efficacy, safety issues or limited value proposition. The Phase III compounds include saredutant to treat depression; AVE5530 to treat hypercholesterolemia; Unifive pentavalent vaccine to prevent infection with diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, HBV and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib); and TroVax, a cancer vaccine. Resources will be reallocated from Unifive to Hexaxim, a hexavalent vaccine in Phase III testing to prevent the same five infections, plus polio. sanofi-aventis returned rights to Trovax to Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE:OXB).
Phase II compounds the pharma dropped include AVE0657 to treat sleep apnea, SSR180575 to treat diabetic polyneuropathy, AVE1642 to treat breast cancer and a melanoma vaccine. sanofi-aventis also ended development of six compounds in Phase I testing. The company returned its rights to AVE1642 to partner Immunogen Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN), which was off $0.17 to $7 on Wednesday. ...