Lilly's Alimta combo lung cancer trial fails to meet primary endpoint

There was disappointing news for US drug major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) yesterday ,as the company announced that the Phase III POINTBREAK trial did not meet its primary endpoint of improved overall survival for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were randomized to receive a combination of its already marketed Alimta (pemetrexed for injection) with bevacizumab (Roche’s Avastin) and carboplatin induction followed by Alimta plus bevacizumab maintenance - the Alimta arm - compared to the combination of paclitaxel with bevacizumab and carboplatin followed by bevacizumab maintenance - the paclitaxel arm.

The study did meet one of its secondary endpoints of improved progression-free survival for the Alimta arm. Results will be presented today (September 7) at the Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. Lilly’s shares rose 1.4% to $46.45 at 10:15 am in New York trading.

"Phase II results with this combination were promising and we were hoping to demonstrate an improvement in survival for non-squamous NSCLC patients, so we are disappointed with the results of this trial," said Allen Melemed, senior medical director with Lilly Oncology, adding: "POINTBREAK did show an improvement in progression-free survival, though this did not translate to an overall survival advantage."