AstraZeneca's news that nitric oxide donator AZD 3582 had failed to reach a primary end-point in a Phase II trial sent originator NicOx's shares plummeting, as investors lost faith in the biotech's entire platform. NicOx is disputing the data's accuracy in an attempt to salvage investor confidence--and to survive. The events highlight the tension between Big Pharma's duties to investor transparency and to protect its biotech partners. They're also a reminder to biotechs that there's more to deals than just royalties.

Recent concerns over the cardiovascular risk profile of Cox-2 inhibitors strengthen the case for pain compound AZD 3582, a new formulation of naproxen in Phase II trials at AstraZeneca. For the compound's originator, NicOx, forthcoming trial results will be critical in validating the firm's founding concept: grafting a nitric oxide molecule onto existing generic drugs.

US FDA usually recommends using overall survival for pancreatic cancer drugs, but AstraZeneca choose progression-free survival; now ODAC will weigh in on whether the PARP inhibitor olaparib demonstrated a clinically meaningful impact. The firm cites enrollment and design challenges in the gBRCAm population as reasons for using PFS.