Lilly has decided to discontinue the phase-2 trials of selective BTK (Bruton's tyrosine kinase) inhibitor (LY3337641/HM71224) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis because interim results showed that the study could fail to demonstrate its target effectiveness.
While Lilly has not commented on the shuttered trial, Korean partner, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, noted the trial failure in a regulatory filing. In March 2015, Hanmi signed an exclusive license agreement with the U.S.-based drugmaker to grant rights to HM71224 in a deal that could generate up to $640 million.
Although the two companies have not yet proposed new indications for HM71224, they had planned to investigate the drug for the potential treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, lupus nephritis, and Sjögren’s syndrome when they initially signed the license deal.
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