Biotech Values

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This program looks dead:

Cubist Pharma halts enrollment in trials on safety concerns

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCNBNG41302320091203?rpc=44

Dec 3 (Reuters) - Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc said it suspended enrollment in two mid-stage trials of its experimental treatment to reduce bleeding in on-pump cardiac surgery, after certain data from one trial showed a higher rate of death.

The Data Safety Monitoring Board recommended a temporary suspension in enrollment after it observed a statistical difference in mortality between the arms of the CONSERV-2 trial, the biopharmaceutical company said in a statement.

The drug, ecallantide, which Cubist licensed from Dyax Corp, is also being tested in another mid-stage trial, named CONSERV-1, where no such imbalance was detected.

Cubist said an initial review showed mortality observed in the trial was due to a variety of causes typically expected in a high-risk-for-bleed population undergoing cardiac surgery.