
American pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced the immediate suspension of the development of its experimental hepatitis C drug that was aimed at treating liver disease following the death of one patient while eight more had to be hospitalized.
The company was conducting Phase II trials for the effectiveness of the drug, known as BMS-986094, which it had acquired following a $2.5 billion acquisition of Inhibitex Inc.
The trial was halted on August 1 following the death of a patient due to heart failure while a follow up on other patients led to the hospitalization of eight more. BMS-986094 belongs to a new class of drugs known as nucleotide polymerase inhibitors.
Source: Medindia