It was disappointing when Bristol-Myers Squibb's
Unfortunately, brivanib just failed there, too. We don't have too many details, but Bristol said the phase 3 trial failed to show that brivanib was non-inferior to Onyx Pharmaceuticals'
Brivanib is being tested in more clinical trials for liver and other cancers, and Bristol is going to have to make a decision about whether it's worth continuing the trials. My bet is that liver cancer is probably out as an indication, but that it's probably worth continuing to explore options in other cancers. Pfizer's
Assuming brivanib is dead as a treatment for liver cancer, that's good news for Onyx as well as ArQule
When Bristol handed back cabozantinib to Exelixis
Bristol has generally been thought of as one of the best pharmas at making deals, packing its pipeline through acquisitions and licensing deals, and I'd tend to agree. But brivanib's failure highlights the fact that drug development often comes down to a crapshoot, and even the best sometimes fail. I wouldn't count Bristol out just yet.
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