Eisai announced that its potential blockbuster anti-sepsis drug, Eritoran, is being dumped due to poor results in a pivotal phase III trial. The drug failed to outperform the placebo in the study. Thus, Eisai halts a program that had been targetting a regulatory submission only two months from now.
This is a bitter setback as Eritoran had been projected to deliver more than $1 B in annual sales when approved in both the USA and Europe, and peak sales were projected as high as $2 B per year by some industry analysts. This is particularly troubling for the company as its lead Alzheimer's drug Aricept is losing share and dollars to generic competition. Eisai said it would continue to study its options with Eritoran as it quietly retreats for now. See Fierce Biotech.
Posted by Bruce Lehr Jan 25th 2011.
Comments