ImClone says Erbitux fails in lung cancer trial

Last Updated: 2007-07-12 16:16:48 -0400 (Reuters Health)

BOSTON (Reuters) - ImClone Systems Inc. said on Thursday its cancer drug Erbitux did not help stave off the disease in patients with metastatic lung cancer, pushing down the company's shares by as much as 6.5 percent.

The trial, involving about 600 patients with lung cancer who had not received prior treatment, tested Erbitux in combination with chemotherapy.

Results of a bigger late-stage trial of the drug, which is currently approved to treat colon cancer and head and neck cancer, are not yet available.

The bigger trial, known as FLEX, would form the basis of a marketing application if successful.

Most analysts had not held out much hope for the first trial's success, and Geoffrey Meacham, an analyst at JP Morgan, said the results were likely to be predictive of the results of the FLEX trial.

"It is unlikely that non-small cell lung cancer will be a significant growth driver for Erbitux going forward," Meacham said in a research note.

But Jim Reddoch, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, argued that the first study should not be interpreted as a marker for the FLEX results since the bigger trial tests the drug with a different chemotherapy regime and the trial design is different.

ImClone markets Erbitux with partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

The company's shares were down $1.31, or 3.65 percent, at $34.59 in late trading on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Toni Clarke and Lewis Krauskopf)