AstraZeneca, fresh from a setback in the US over its blood-thinner Brilinta, today announced it has discontinued development of its experimental drug Motavizumab for preventing lung disease in infants.
The move will cost the company $445m but the charge - to be taken in the fourth quarter - would be excluded from its core earnings and so would not affect its guidance for the year. A US medical panel had cited concerns about possible side effects and said there was a need for more data. Astra still plans to continue development of the drug for other possible respiratory virus problems.
On Friday the company said Brilinta - expected to be a multi-billion dollar blockbuster - had failed to win approval from US regulators, who requested more analysis of existing clinical trials.
This latest news has not had as great an effect as Brilinta, since Motavizumab was never expected to bring in the same sort of revenues, and Astra's shares have edged up 6.5p to £29.44.
