Orion halts development of pain treatment ODM-111

Finnish pharma group Orion (HEL: ORNBV) has announced it is discontinuing development of ODM-111, a pain management drug candidate, following a toxicology study suggesting it may not be suitable for long-term use.

According to Orion’s senior VP of innovative medicines, Outi Vaarala, preparations for Phase II trials were well advanced. The decision to halt development stemmed from new findings suggesting that: “the therapeutic window of ODM-111 is too narrow.”

She added: “We are now focusing our resources on other promising projects in our R&D pipeline.”