ASA404: Development discontinued

Novartis discontinued development of ASA404 after interim data from the double-blind, international Phase III ATTRACT-2 trial in 900 patients with stage IIIb/IV NSCLC showed that IV ASA404 plus Taxotere docetaxel as second-line therapy missed the primary endpoint of significantly improving OS vs. placebo plus Taxotere. As a result of the termination, Novartis said it will incur an intangible asset impairment charge of $120 million in 4Q10. ...