A GlaxoSmithKline experimental cancer vaccine has failed a test against non-small cell lung cancer. However, the British company remains hopefully they will identify a sub-group of patients in whom it will work.
This is GSK's second setback after the vaccine failed to prove effective against melanoma back in September.
The MAGE-A3 therapeutic vaccine is designed to help the immune system fend off the disease after cancer patients have already undergone surgery.
The most recent study, which involved 2,000 lung cancer patients, failed to prevent the disease from recurring.
Vincent Brichard, head of immunotherapeutics at GSK Vaccines, told Reuters Health the company was disappointed but will continue with clinical trials in hopes of finding a suitable sub-group of patients. But others are doubtful, as reflected in a 2 percent drop in GSK shares following the news.
Citi analyst Andrew Baum still has hope for the high-risk, high-reward project, noting there was a 10 percent probability that MAGE-A3 could result in a significant benefit in a gene-specific defined population group, which would still be a substantial market for the company.
As a result, Citi has a risk-adjusted sales forecast for the product of $360 million in 2022.
GSK Chief Executive Andrew Witty shares an upbeat attitude for MAGE-A3's possibilities. Witty described the cancer vaccine, and the company's other darling, a heart disease drug called darapladib, as their most promising drugs despite failed testing in both cases.
Immunotherapy is a hot ticket item among pharmaceutical research at the moment, though, as GSK knows all too well, cancer vaccine development has been difficult.
Other companies, like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche and Merck & Co, have had some recent notable successes in clinical trials of innovative drugs to boost the immune system, but GSK is still pushing the scientific boundaries with its vaccine-based approach.
