Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: SNSS) is now under close watch from the FDA, as new tests will continue on their cancer treatment drug known as Vosaroxin. According to Sunesis, the drug have demonstrated a higher survival rate in cancer patients than other medications. However, a test failed on October 2014 revealing that the company will indeed need more evidence and further investigations before releasing the drug to the public. Vosaroxin is a combination of compounds new in the cancer research world.
Sunesis acquired the rights to the drug in 2003. However, the majority of its testing has taken place on 2013 and on. The drug is currently being tested on a specific type of leukemia known as Acute Myeloid Leukemia, or AML. This is a type of cancer that is characterized by the accelerated growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.
Regardless of the FDA concerns for further testing, there is already an approval issued by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Regarding to these two different approaches from both parties towards the new medicine, an analyst from RBC Capital Market, Adnan Butt said, “The EMA has a history of taking in the whole picture while the FDA historically sticks to statistics.”
The drug is scheduled to be released in 2016 in Europe. Nonetheless, the recent decision from the FDA resulted in the company’s shares to drop 60%.