AstraZeneca takes impairment after pulling development of arthritis drug

4th Jun 2013 07:25

Biopharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca will be hit by a one-off impairment charge after admitting that it has decided not to pursue a regulatory filing for fostamatinib, an oral drug it was hoping could be an alternative treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.After receiving mixed results from the OSKIRA-2 (12-month) and OSKIRA-3 (six-month) studies, the last of the pivotal Phase III clinical trials investigating fostamatinib, the company said it has decided not to proceed after reporting adverse reactions such as hypertension, diarrhoea, nausea, headache and nasopharyngitis (common cold). As such, the firm will incur a pre-tax impairment charge of $140m in the second quarter of 2013 for the intangible assets relating to fostamatinib. However, Astra reassured that this will have no impact of its 'core' financial measures and guidance for the full year. The company said it will return the rights to the compound to Rigel Pharmaceuticals - the fostamatinib license agreement was signed in February 2010 - which will then decide whether it wants to continue with more studies and pursue regulatory filings."The results of the late stage trials did not measure up to the promising results we saw earlier in development," said Chief Medical Officer Briggs Morrison, who is also the Managing Director and Executive Vice President of the Global Medicines Development division."We remain committed to the search for new treatments for patients with rheumatic and inflammatory diseases with Phase II compounds in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and Phase III compounds in gout and psoriasis."