Ariad stops Ph III Iclusing trial on blood clot woes

US biotech firm Ariad Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: ARIA) took another tumble, falling 35% to $2.91, as the company said (on October 18) that it is discontinuing the Phase III EPIC (Evaluation of Ponatinib versus Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia) trial of Iclusig (ponatinib) in patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia.

Ariad and the US Food and Drug Administration mutually agreed that the trial should be terminated because arterial thrombotic events were observed in patients treated with Iclusig. This decision was made in the interest of patient safety based on a recent assessment of data in the clinical trial. Earlier this month the stock crashed 59% to $6.99 when the study’s enrollment was paused by the FDA (The Pharma Letter October 10).

“Our decision to stop the EPIC trial at this time is based on our current evaluation of the safety data in the trial since it was placed on partial clinical hold last week,” stated Timothy Clackson, president of R&D and chief scientific officer at Ariad, adding: "We believe that this is in the best interests of patient safety and the overall development of Iclusig.”