Benzinga | Oct 21, 2021 12:10PM EDT

AstraZeneca Pulls Plug On MCL-1 Cancer Drug Trial

* AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ:AZN) has paused an active Phase 1 trial of AZD5991, a direct inhibitor of MCL-1, citing a potential safety issue.

* Two years ago, the FDA hit Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) with a clinical hold on its MCL-1 inhibitor AMG 397 following signs of cardiac toxicity.

* AstraZeneca's AZD5991 belongs to the same class therapy.

* The trial suspension, noted on ClinicalTrials.gov, came on October 19: "The study has been put on hold to allow further evaluation of safety-related information," the update said.

* AstraZeneca planned to recruit 144 patients for the study, slated to complete in March 2023.

* The trial was assessing AZD5991, either alone or combined with AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) / Roche Holding AG's (OTC:RHHBY) Venetoclax in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

* The drug works by targeting apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death, specifically in blood cancer.

* Price Action: AZN shares are up 0.71% at $60.6 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.