Ono Pharma’s ONO-1110 failed five Phase 2 trials, leading to the discontinuation of development in depression and social anxiety. Work will continue for three pain indications.
Ono Pharma’s endocannabinoid modulator showed no effect in easing depression and social anxiety disorder during a group of Phase 2 trials but appeared to show a glimmer of hope for reducing pain.
The Japanese company is discontinuing development of ONO-1110 in the first two indications while pursuing the asset’s use in treating pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), fibromyalgia (FM) and Hunner-type interstitial cystitis (HIC), according to a Thursday press release.
The decision follows results from five mid-stage studies that Ono was running for ONO-1110. The company offered little detail on the failure beyond saying that there were no efficacy signals in the depression and anxiety trials.
The pain studies were also unsuccessful, with all three missing their primary endpoints, Ono reported. Nevertheless, Ono was encouraged by improvements in pain scores and is planning additional clinical trials to test whether the drug can find a use in certain pain indications.
Ono reported fiscal second quarter earnings on Thursday, including product sales of about $431 million—$5 million ahead of consensus. But the negative pipeline news dragged down sentiment for the drugmaker, Jefferies said in a Thursday note.
Besides the quintuple failure, Ono also discontinued a Phase 1 candidate called ONO-4578 for non-small cell lung cancer. The asset will continue in a Phase 3 trial for gastric and Phase 2 for colorectal cancer, Jefferies said.
