San Francisco-based Kindred Bioscience ($KIN) did not meet the primary endpoint during a trial of CereKin, its drug for canine osteoarthritis, based off studies for Amgen ($AMGN) and Pfizer's ($PFE) Enbrel. The study was randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled to evaluate the safety and efficacy of two doses of the drug.
While all the data from the study is still being analyzed, results so far are higher in the placebo group than expected--and, with high statistical variability. In the group receiving the higher dose of CereKin, while the response rate was in line with results seen in human studies, the dropout rate was higher. Further, statistical significance was not achieved for the primary endpoint.
Kindred's president and CEO, Dr. Richard Chin, said that although the CereKin pivotal study had disappointing results, it will have a limited impact on Kindred's business model.
"The total cost of the CereKin program has been approximately $4 million, which represents less than 5% of our cash resources. With over $100 million in funds, we have ample capital for additional programs," Chin said in a statement.
Kindred, however, had high hopes for its pivotal CereKin study. The company's second-quarter earnings report shows that it incurred a net loss of $8.1 million compared to $396,000 in the same period a year ago as it expanded R&D, and Chin wrote in the report that "we currently anticipate the top line results from our pivotal study of CereKin shortly."
Kindred is also developing AtoKin to treat atopic dermatitis in dogs and SentiKin to target postoperative pain in cats. During the second quarter, it completed a study of SentiKin as well as a drug that may stimulate appetite in felines. It expects to study another drug this quarter that targets fever in horses.
- here's the release