Pfizer reports mixed results in late-stage clinical trial

NEW YORK Pfizer reported mixed results this week in a late-stage clinical trial combining two drugs in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

The drug maker said the combination of Pfizer’s Sutent (sunitinib) and Tarceva (erlotinib), made by Genentech and OSI Pharmaceuticals, kept the disease from progressing, but did not improve patients’ overall survival, which was the trial’s primary goal. The company expects to present results at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Milan in October.

“While this trial did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival for patients treated with sunitinib plus erlotinib, we believe that the statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival is an important finding,” Pfizer oncology business unit SVP clinical development and medical affairs Mace Rothenberg said in a statement.