Halozyme discontinues PEGPH20 development as trial flops

4 November 2019

US biotech firm Halozyme Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HALO) today announced that the HALO-301 Phase III clinical study evaluating its investigational new drug PEGPH20 as a first-line therapy for treatment of patients with metastatic pancreas cancer failed to reach the primary endpoint of overall survival.

News of the flop sent Halozyme’s shares tumbling 3.54% to $15.00 pre-market, but the stock recovered to $16.00 by mid-morning trading, as the firm also revealed a restructuring plan.

The treatment arm of PEGPH20 in combination with Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Gemzar (gemcitabine) and Celgene’s (NYSE: CELG) Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) to demonstrate an improvement in median overall survival compared to gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel alone (11.2 months compared to 11.5 months, HR=1.00, p=0.9692). While there was a higher response rate in the PEGPH20 treatment arm, this did not translate into an improvement in duration of response, Progression Free Survival or Overall Survival.

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