Tivantinib Will Not Meet Primary Endpoint; Phase III Trial Discontinued

Shares of ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) are being crushed in early trading on Tuesday following an announcement that the company and partner Daiichi Sankyo (OTC:DSNKY) will be discontinuing a Phase III non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) study of its lead product tivantinib. After a planned interim analysis of the MARQUEE trial, an independent safety monitoring committee advised that the drug would not meet its primary endpoint of improved overall survival in the 1,000 patient study, and the study should be discontinued. Tuesday’s press release stated that the companies will continue to develop tivantinib for other oncology indications.

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