Amgen Ends Rilotumumab Development in Gastric Cancer

Amgen has terminated all of its clinical studies of rilotumumab in advanced gastric cancer based on a planned safety review by the RILOMET-1 independent data monitoring committee, which found an increase in the number of deaths in the rilotumumab and chemotherapy treatment arm compared to the chemotherapy treatment only arm.
 
“While we are disappointed with these results, we will work with lead investigators to further analyze the data in order to help inform future research and therapies in this area,” said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of R&D at Amgen.  “There is a high unmet need for new treatments to address advanced gastric cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide.”