Shire hit by bowel drug study failure
Shire hit by bowel drug study failure LONDON (Global Markets) - Shire (SHP.L) was hit on Friday by the failure of a clinical study that could have opened up an important new market for its bowel drug Lialda, sending shares in the specialty drugmaker 4 percent lower.Stock Market Predictions
Shire said a once-daily dose of mesalamine, the active ingredient in Lialda, failed to reduce the rate of recurrence of diverticulitis in a two-year Phase III clinical study. The medicine proved no better than placebo.
As a result, the company does not intend to submit mesalamine, which is already approved for ulcerative colitis under the brand name Lialda, as a treatment for diverticulitis.
Diverticulitis is a common digestive disease involving small, bulging sacs of the inner lining of the intestine that become inflamed or infected.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Greg Mahlich)