Synairgen says AstraZeneca stops mid-stage asthma drug study

(Reuters) – Drug developer Synairgen Plc said its partner AstraZeneca Plc stopped a mid-stage study that was testing Synairgen’s drug candidate as a potential treatment for severe asthma.

Synairgen said fewer-than-expected patients had their asthma worsen in the study, making it difficult for AstraZeneca to gauge the drug’s efficiency.

AstraZeneca plans to evaluate the data collected from the study with a focus on secondary goals, which could better predict when patients’ asthma would worsen.

Synairgen said that full results from the study are expected in the first quarter of 2017.

(Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)