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Astra nixes stroke drug
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November 15, 2000: 2:24 p.m. ET
Drug maker's experiments on a stroke drug showed treatment ineffective
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Drug maker AstraZeneca PLC on Wednesday dropped development of an experimental treatment for stroke, saying the medication proved ineffective in a clinical trial.
The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm tested the drug, known as Zendra, in an early-stage Phase I trial of 1,200 patients suffering major stroke. While the experimental drug "was not a high priority project" for AstraZeneca, the company said it will continue to work on potential treatments for the disease.
"While these results are disappointing, we continue to view stroke as a treatable disease and we will continue our search for effective treatments," Dr. Patrick Lyden, a coordinator of the clinical trial for Zendra, said in a statement.
AstraZeneca's (AZN: Research, Estimates) American depositary receipts shed 13 cents to $46.94 in afternoon trading.
A day earlier, the ADRs slipped about 3 percent, following a newspaper report that said sales of the London-based company's new ulcer treatment, Nexium, were slower than hoped for in Sweden.
The company, however, said it is too early to tell how Nexium is performing. The drug went on the market Aug. 1 in Sweden, and is also available in the bigger markets of the U.K. and Germany. A U.S. launch is planned for next year, pending regulatory approval. The drug is a next-generation version of AstraZeneca's best-selling ulcer treatment Prilosec -- known as Losec outside the United States. Prilosec has already lost patent protection in several European markets.
AstraZeneca is on the hunt for new drugs to make up for lost sales of Prilosec, which is facing increasing competition from rival drugs. The company is developing a cholesterol-lowering drug in the lucrative "statin" category that could compete with Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE: Research, Estimates) blockbuster heart drug Lipitor, as well as treatments for cancer and pulmonary disease. 
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