Pharmaprojects R&D Pipeline News Feed
Evolutec abandons lead candidate
08 Jan 2007
Following the failure of two Phase II trials in two months of its lead compound rEV-131, the future of UK biopharmaceutical company Evolutec is reported to be in doubt.
Chief Executive Mark Carnegie Brown said: "Following this disappointment, no more investment will be made by Evolutec in rEV131". Evolutec is looking to out-license its second development candidate, rEV-576, in order to fund clinical trials. Out-licensing and/or a merger or acquisition seem to be the only viable options for attempting to rebuild value for shareholders.
The demise of this first-in-class H4/H1 receptor antagonist may provide an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies such as Cellzome, which is conducting preclinical trials in this area.
