ObsEva IVF nolasiban drug flops in key European trial

Obseva SA

07/11/2019 07:31

ZURICH, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Swiss-listed drugmaker ObsEva
 OBSN.S  said on Thursday it is abandoning the current programme
for its drug prospect nolasiban after the agent aimed at
boosting pregnancy following in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) failed
a late-stage study in Europe. 
    Nolasiban did not meet the primary endpoint of an increase
in ongoing pregnancy at 10 weeks, with 39.1% of women who got
the placebo experiencing an ongoing pregnancy, compared with
40.5% of women who got nolasiban, the company said in a
statement. 
    This proposed use of nolasiban, an oral oxytocin receptor
antagonist licensed from Merck KGaA  MRCG.DE  to help women
getting IVF therapy, had been a central part of ObsEva's plans.
The trial failure leaves the company with drug candidates for
endometriosis and potentially dangerous pre-term labour. 
    "We are extremely disappointed with these unexpected
results, not in the least for the millions of women hoping to
have a baby through IVF," said Ernest Loumaye, a gynaecologist
and former Serono drug developer who founded ObsEva. 
    "We have decided to discontinue the current nolasiban IVF
programme and will explore potential repositioning of the
product candidate." 
    ObsEva added a share listing in Switzerland last year, in
addition to trading on the Nasdaq in the United States starting
in 2017. The shares are down 36% this year. 

 (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)
 ((J.Miller@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7734; Reuters
Messaging: j.miller.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))