Takeda presents treatment for chemotherapy side-effects

Takeda has presented the results of two phase III trials for Tavocept, an investigational treatment designed to help prevent peripheral nerve damage (neuropathy) associated with some types of chemotherapy drugs.

The phase III trials involved metastatic breast cancer patients who received paclitaxel treatment weekly and non-small cell lung cancer patients, who received cisplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapies.

Some patients in the trials were treated with Tavocept, with the intention of finding out the drug’s effect on the incidence of severe neuropathy caused by the chemotherapy drugs, as well as how or if Tavocept affected the ability of the chemotherapy drugs to shrink tumours.

The endpoints for neither trial were met, although development partner BioNumerik said it was still hopeful of the drug’s prospects.

Frederick H Hasheer, chairman and chief executive officer of BioNumerik, remarked: “Although we did not see the results that we hoped to observe in these phase III trials, we believe there is evidence of potential clinical activity of Tavocept that supports consideration of possible further Tavocept development aimed at addressing the large unmet medical need for neuroprotective agents.”

“Certain trends and subgroup analyses for the trials indicate that Tavocept may have potential for reducing chemotherapy-induced neuropathy that merits consideration of further clinical testing,” he added.

Takeda has, however, notified BioNumerik that it may consider terminating its licence agreement because of the additional time it may take to find new treatment indications with the drug. The two parties are currently in discussions over the future development of Tavocept.

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