Boehringer Ingelheim stops LUX-Head & Neck 2 and 4 trials with Gilotrif

Boehringer Ingelheim has decided to stop the global LUX-Head & Neck 2 trial (NCT01345669) as well as its Asian companion trial, LUX-Head & Neck 4 (NCT02131155), evaluating Gilotrif (afatinib) in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who showed no signs of disease after chemotherapy.

Gilotrif/Giotrif is already approved for the second-line treatment of patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung in the USA and Europe, and is approved in over 60 countries for the treatment of patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

German family-owned pharma major Boehringer, a recent entrant to the oncology therapy sector, had hoped to show that the drug could help keep the cancer from returning, expanding the market for its already strong-selling drug. Annual sales of Gilotrif/Giotrif are expected to reach $688.10 million in 2020, according to GlobalData.