(Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it has discontinued a late-stage study testing its experimental drug to treat a type of bladder cancer as the drug did not show superior benefits compared to chemoradiation.
The drug, TAR-200, was being tested in combination with an experimental antibody drug in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who did not undergo a surgical procedure to remove the bladder and nearby tissues, compared to patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy.
MIBC, where cancer has grown into muscle tissue of the bladder, represents a quarter of all newly diagnosed bladder cancer cases, the drugmaker said.
The drug combination was tested to compare the period from the start of treatment until the patient remains free of certain complications, including recurrence of cancer and death, according to the government’s clinical trials website.
The decision follows a recommendation by an independent data monitoring committee based on an interim analysis, J&J said.
TAR-200 is a targeted drug release system designed to slowly release a chemotherapy drug into the bladder over an extended period of time, according to J&J.
The company is also testing the drug combination in a mid-stage study in patients with MIBC scheduled for surgical removal of the bladder who are ineligible for, or refuse, chemotherapy.
Separately, J&J is testing the drug in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, an early and less invasive form of the disease.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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