Positive first Phase III trial of an alpha-pharmaceutical, Bayer's Alpharadin

Until recently, options for patients with bone metastases from advanced prostate cancer have been very limited. But now the first Phase III study of an alpha-pharmaceutical in these patients has shown that it can prolong survival significantly, according to research reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress over the weekend.

Chris Parker, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK, told the congress that the ALSYMPCA international Phase III study of the drug Radium-223 Chloride (Alpharadin, under development by German drug major Bayer [BAY: DE]) in 922 prostate cancer patients who were resistant to hormone treatment and had bone metastases, had been stopped early once an interim analysis by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) in June 2011 had revealed that patients receiving the best standard treatment plus radium-223 were living longer than those who were receiving the same standard treatment plus placebo (The Pharma Letter June 7).

Increased medium survival