Onxeo, a France-based biotechnology company, has failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase three trial of its liver cancer drug, Livatag (doxorubicine Transdrug), it was reported yesterday.

The product is intended to treat adult patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. It could not improve survival of the hepatocellular carcinoma patients when compared to best standard of care according to the findings of the phase three trial, named ReLive.

The late-stage trial featured HCC patients who were either intolerant to sorafenib or whose disease had progressed following a systemic therapy including sorafenib. The company stated that the failure of the Livatag phase three liver cancer study is mainly due to the unexpected high survival in the comparative arm.

Onxeo plans to continue monitoring the still enrolled patients in the trial until its completion in the first half of 2019.