Bayer, Onyx to enroll patients for thyroid cancer clinical trial

BERLIN German drug maker Bayer HealthCare and partner Onyx Pharmaceuticals have started enrolling patients for a late-stage clinical trial of a drug in patients with thyroid cancer.

Bayer announced Friday the beginning of a Phase 3 trial of Nexavar (sorafenib) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer that refracts radioactive iodine. The companies started the trial based on results from a Phase 2 trial of the drug in patients with advanced thyroid cancer.

“Patients with thyroid cancer, particularly those who failed to respond to surgical or radiotherapies have limited treatment options to help them manage their disease,” Bayer HealthCare VP clinical development Dimitris Voliotis said in a statement. “Recognizing this unmet need, we are evaluating Nexavar in this special patient population.”

The companies will enroll 400 patients in multiple countries for the placebo-controlled trial.