BRIEF—Sumitomo stops napabucasin pancreatic cancer study due to futility

Japanese drugmaker Sumitomo Dainippon closed 2% down in the stock market on Tuesday after news of a setback with its anti-cancer candidate napabucasin.

The firm’s US subsidiary, Boston Biomedical, received a recommendation from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board to discontinue the Phase III CanStem111P study investigating the agent in pancreatic cancer.

Sumitomo has accepted the recommendation – which was based upon futility – but continues to study napabucasin in a Phase III trial in colorectal cancer.