Independent investigators say OncoMed's pancreatic cancer drug unlikely to succeed

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OMED) lost nearly half of its market value Monday after an independent investigation informed the company that its pancreatic cancer drug was unlikely to meet the main goal in a mid-stage study.

Shares in the company plunged to close down nearly 43% on the Nasdaq as the independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) told OncoMed that even though the drug, tarextumab, had a clean safety profile, they had observed worsening response rates in patients taking the treatment. There is a low probability of the drug achieving a clear benefit in overall survival rates of the patients, the independent investigators said.

Paul Hastings, chairman and chief executive, said: "The findings communicated by the DSMB suggest a low likelihood of a statistically significant benefit in overall survival in the tarextumab ALPINE pancreatic cancer trial. Our aim is to quickly unblind the trial and work with our clinical sites and investigators to verify, analyze, interpret, and fully understand the data, including Notch biomarker subgroup trends, and determine next steps."