Pfizer shutters Inlyta kidney cancer trial due to lack of efficacy

On the advice of independent trial monitors, New York pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is to shut down the Phase III ATLAS trial of Inlyta (axitinib) as adjuvant therapy for patients at high risk of recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The study, which was conducted in partnership with privately-held Californian firm SFJ Pharmaceuticals, failed to show a clear improvement in the primary endpoint of extending disease-free survival.

Inlyta is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, first  given the green light by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2012 as a treatment for advanced RCC in the second-line setting. It was approved in the EU the year after.