The pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca has announced that it will be bringing trials related to its drug, zibotentan to a halt, after it was discovered that the drug was not as effective in providing treatment against prostate cancer. A review of the medicine by an independent committee had stated that taking one dose of the drug daily did not prove to be beneficial for people with non-metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer.

It was merely 5-months ago that the pharmaceutical Company had given away signs of the drug failing to show any exceptional improvement in the longevity of life of people suffering from cancer. Meanwhile, tests related to zibotentan are still being carried out to check if the drug was beneficial for people in the last stages of metastatic cancers, who are undergoing intense chemotherapy at this point of time.

AstraZeneca has invested huge amounts of funds in research work regarding zibotentan. It needs to be noted that the drug has been receiving funds since the past eight-years in the hope that the drug will one day be successful in slowing the growth of cancerous tumours and the spread of cancer cells.

This is the second major setback that has been suffered by AstraZeneca. Prior, to zibotentan, the group had to shelve research work regarding motavizumab, a drug which was being developed to provide relief to children with respiratory illness. It has invested an astounding $445 million in the medicine.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca, informed "The setbacks are disappointing but we are seeing progress in a number of other areas in our development programmes."