Discontinued drugs in 2005: oncology drugs

This perspective is the second in a series of papers discussing drugs dropped from development in 2005, of which 20 were being developed for cancer. Of these 20, 60% were biological agents and included 3 cancer vaccine (e.g., Canvaxin?) and 2 antisense oligonucleotide (e.g., aprinocarsen sodium). Overall, 10 cancer drugs were discontinued in Phase I, 6 in Phase II and 4 at Phase III. This paper surveys drugs discontinued in the oncology arena in 2005 by stage of development and class of compound, suggesting some reasons for their failure.     

Discontinued drugs in 2006: oncology drugs

This perspective is the last in a series of papers discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in 2006. Specifically, this paper focuses on the 16 drugs discontinued for the treatment of cancer, the largest area of pharma R&D. This was based on a search of the Pharmaprojects database for drugs reaching Phase I-III clinical trials.     

Discontinued drugs in 2010: oncology drugs

The Pharmaceutical Industry is currently undergoing a period of rapid change as the pressures of the financial markets highlight fundamental inefficiencies in the current business model. The Achilles heel for the industry is the unacceptable level of attrition in clinical drug development. An imperative for the industry is to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of Research and Development (R&D). This article provides an analysis of cancer drugs dropped from the industry pipeline in 2010 and offers a perspective on how the future oncology drug pipeline might evolve.     

Discontinued drugs in 2007: oncology drugs

This perspective is part of an annual series of papers discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in the previous year. Specifically, this paper focuses on the 28 oncology drugs discontinued in 2007. Information for this perspective was derived from a search of the Pharmaprojects database for drugs discontinued after reaching Phase I – III clinical trials.     

Discontinued drugs in 2008: oncology drugs

The failure of drug candidates in clinical development remains a critical issue for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This article documents those oncology drugs discontinued in 2008 and briefly reviews reasons for termination of development. Source information was derived from a search of the Pharmaprojects database for drugs reaching phase I – III clinical trials.     

Discontinued drugs in 2010: oncology drugs

The Pharmaceutical Industry is currently undergoing a period of rapid change as the pressures of the financial markets highlight fundamental inefficiencies in the current business model. The Achilles heel for the industry is the unacceptable level of attrition in clinical drug development. An imperative for the industry is to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of Research and Development (R&D). This article provides an analysis of cancer drugs dropped from the industry pipeline in 2010 and offers a perspective on how the future oncology drug pipeline might evolve.     

Discontinued drugs in 2011: oncology drugs

This year's analysis of discontinued drugs in oncology reveals that the trend of increasing numbers of candidate drug development terminations seen in recent years has continued into 2011. Thirty-seven drugs were dropped from the global oncology development pipeline in 2011, significantly more than the 28 discontinuations reported in 2010. Of note were the number of terminations reported for strategic reasons and the striking number of drugs (23) discontinued in or at the end of Phase I development. This article provides a summary of those drugs discontinued in 2011 and discusses the observations in the context of the rapid changes occurring in the way new anticancer drugs are developed.     

Discontinued in 2013: oncology drugs

Introduction: Attrition in clinical development is widely recognised as a key factor negatively impacting overall R&D efficiency. Gaining an understanding of the reasons for candidate failure may lead to improvements in success rates and return on R&D investment.

Areas covered: This report provides an analysis of reasons for discontinuation of development of 40 drugs dropped from the global oncology pipeline in 2013 – the largest number of terminations reported since this annual analysis began in 2005. The article also provides discussion on the observations in the context of contemporary views of anticancer drug development.

Expert opinion: Twelve drugs (30% of the 2013 discontinuations) failed in Phase III development. None of the pivotal trials investigating these agents incorporated molecular biomarkers for patient stratification. The largest number of drug terminations (20 out of 40) occurred in Phase I development with reasons for termination commonly reported as strategic or undisclosed. Raising the bar in terms of requirements for progression from preclinical development, including the identification of robust pharmacodynamic biomarkers and biomarkers potentially predictive of clinical benefit may lead to an increase in success rates in clinical development and of overall R&D efficiency.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective describes cardiovascular compounds dropped from clinical development in 2005 and is the first in a series of papers to be published in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, discussing discontinued drugs from that year. Discontinued candidates are described by the phase of development they reached, based on the information available from the Pharmaprojects database. Discontinued drugs in the atherosclerosis/dyslipidaemia area are discussed in more detail.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: schizophrenia drugs

This paper is the third in a series discussing drugs dropped from development in 2005. Schizophrenia is particularly interesting with regard to pipeline discontinuation, and appears to be unique in this data set because the number of discontinuations far exceeds that for other neuropsychiatric conditions. If this is taken as a proxy for overall drug discovery activity, it represents a very large amount of activity across a wide range of big pharmaceutical corporations. It is also clear that many of the discontinued drugs have mechanisms of action that would make them theoretically suitable as treatments for schizophrenia. Why should so much activity be directed towards what many may consider an undeserving, relatively untreatable and relatively non-rehabilitatable group of patients? This is debated in this opinion piece.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective describes cardiovascular compounds dropped from clinical development in 2005 and is the first in a series of papers to be published in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, discussing discontinued drugs from that year. Discontinued candidates are described by the phase of development they reached, based on the information available from the Pharmaprojects database. Discontinued drugs in the atherosclerosis/dyslipidaemia area are discussed in more detail.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: anti-infectives

This perspective is the fifth in a series discussing drugs dropped from development in 2005, of which 11 were being developed for infectious diseases. Of these, eight were antivirals and were dropped in Phase II or III: Medivir's alovudine, Ono Pharmaceuticals' aplaviroc hydrochloride and Excite's immunotherapeutic Xcellerate for HIV; Boehringer Ingelheim's ciluprevir, ViroPharma's HCV-086, Isis Pharmaceuticals' antisense oligonucleotide ISIS-14803, Japan Tobacco's JTK-003 and Rigel's R803 for hepatitis C virus. The remaining discontinued anti-infective drugs were an antibacterial vaccine (Vical's anthrax vaccine), an antiseptic (YM Bioscience's Dermofural) and an antifungal formulation (MacroChem's topical econazole). The drugs are grouped by compound class and reasons for their failure are discussed in this article.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: endocrine and metabolic

This perspective describes the compounds from the endocrine and metabolic area that were discontinued during the calendar year 2005. This is a continuation of a series of perspectives of each of the editorial areas summarized by Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs. The candidates for this summary were being developed in the areas of treatment of diabetes and diabetes complications, as well as reproductive and urogenital health issues.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: endocrine and metabolic

This perspective describes the compounds from the endocrine and metabolic area that were discontinued during the calendar year 2005. This is a continuation of a series of perspectives of each of the editorial areas summarized by Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs. The candidates for this summary were being developed in the areas of treatment of diabetes and diabetes complications, as well as reproductive and urogenital heath issues.     

Discontinued drugs in 2005: pulmonary-allergy, dermatological, gastrointestinal and arthritis drugs

This perspective is the fourth in a series of papers discussing drugs dropped from development in 2005, focusing on pulmonary-allergy, dermatological, gastrointestinal and arthritis drugs. A survey of discontinued drugs from 2005 is provided, based on data from the Pharmaprojects database, along with an analysis of economic considerations in developing new drugs.     

Discontinued drugs in 2008: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective is part of an annual series of papers discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in the previous year. Specifically, this paper focuses on the 16 cardiovascular drugs discontinued in 2008. Information for this perspective was derived from a search of the Pharmaprojects database for drugs discontinued after reaching Phase I – III clinical trials.     

Discontinued drugs in 2010: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective is a paper discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in the previous years. Specifically, this paper focuses on 16 cardiovascular drugs discontinued in 2010 after reaching Phase I – III clinical trials. Information for this perspective is mainly derived from a search of Pharmaprojects.     

Discontinued drugs in 2011: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective is part of an annual series of papers discussing drugs dropped from development in the previous year. Specifically, this paper focuses on the 19 cardiovascular drugs discontinued in 2011 after reaching preclinical or Phase I – III clinical trials. Information for this perspective is mainly derived from a search of Pharmaprojects.     

Discontinued drugs in 2007: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective is part of an annual series of papers discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in the previous year. Specifically, this paper focuses on the 16 cardiovascular drugs discontinued in 2007. Information for this perspective was derived from a search of the Pharmaprojects database for drugs discontinued after reaching Phase I – III clinical trials.     

Discontinued drugs in 2010: cardiovascular drugs

This perspective is a paper discussing drugs dropped from clinical development in the previous years. Specifically, this paper focuses on 16 cardiovascular drugs discontinued in 2010 after reaching Phase I - III clinical trials. Information for this perspective is mainly derived from a search of Pharmaprojects.