Another effort on pancreatic cancer flops, as Boston Biomedical cans phase 3 combo test

Boston Biomedical is halting a late-stage study of its investigational drug, alongside older chemo therapies, after it failed to help pancreatic cancer patients. The phase 3 trial was combining traditional cancer chemo agents Abraxane and gemcitabine with Boston Biomedical’s experimental oncology drug napabucasin, an oral therapy that is bioactivated by NQO1, which generates reactive oxygen species to affect multiple oncogenic cellular pathways, including the STAT3 pathway, which is expected to result in cancer cell death. But this triple cocktail failed to move the needle for Boston, owned by Japanese-based parent company Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (buying back in 2012 for up to $2.6 billion), and the trial will now be stopped.