Taiho announces results of TAS-102 Phase II trial for metastatic colorectal cancer

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (HQ: Tokyo, President: Toru Usami) announced on July 22 the results of a randomized, Phase II clinical trial for the novel oral nucleoside antitumor agent TAS-102 under development by the company for metastatic colorectal cancer, at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology held in Yokohama. (Abstract no. 10428)

The trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with a primary outcome measure of overall survival involving 172 patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer who had received standard chemotherapy at least two or more regimens containing a fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin. The results indicated that the TAS-102 significantly improved overall survival compared with the placebo (overall survival median: 9.0 months vs. 6.6 months) and significantly reduced the risk of mortality.

In light of these results, Taiho Pharmaceutical will proceed with global development of TAS-102 so that this drug can be offered as soon as possible to metastatic colorectal cancer patients who have exhausted proven treatment options and there remains a high unmet medical need.