Once Hopeful Teriflunomide, Failed expectations

France’s Sanofi said its multiple sclerosis drug candidate teriflunomide did not achieve one of its goals in a late-stage clinical trial, while Swiss rival Novartis announced it would terminate trials of its high blood pressure treatment Rasilez for patients with diabetes and renal impairment. Britain-based AstraZeneca abandoned plans to develop a new anti-ovarian cancer drug.

Shares in the three companies underperformed European stock markets — AstraZeneca lost 2.3 percent and Novartis 1 percent, while Sanofi gained 0.8 percent — as investors reined in their earnings expectations.

Sanofi said teriflunomide, also known by the trade name Aubagio, worked no better than an older drug, Rebif, in preventing relapses, as the study found “no statistical superiority” between Rebif and either 7 mg or 14 mg doses of teriflunomide. Rebif is marketed by Merck KGaA of Germany.

Sanofi’s Genzyme unit enrolled 324 patients with relapsing forms of MS in a two-year study.

The study was the second of five planned efficacy studies of teriflunomide in MS. Genzyme expects to file an application for marketing approval in the European Union in the first quarter of 2012.