Popular pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co, is looking forward to introduce oral investigational cancer drug, ridaforolimus, to its European and US regulators later this year. The Company has expressed enthusiasm towards the launch after the successful completion of phase III sarcoma multi-center clinical evaluation of drug efficiency trail in patients with metastatic soft-tissue or bone sarcomas, who previously had a favorable response to chemotherapy.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had allocated a special protocol assessment to the oral ridaforolimus, an investigational mTOR inhibitor. The treatment was observed to yield satisfactory results and to improve the progression-free survival (PFS) as compared to placebo in patients suffering from metastatic soft-tissue or bone sarcomas with a positive response to chemotherapy.

The Director of Santa Monica’s Sarcoma Oncology Center, Sant Chawla, notified that patients with metastatic soft-tissue and bone sarcomas have limited treatment options. “Data from the SUCCEED trial show that ridaforolimus maintained the benefit of prior conventional chemotherapy’, added Mr. Chawala. “The study met the primary endpoint of PFS, showing a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement”.

The company had acquired an exclusive license for ridaforolimus, a year back, from oncology specialist Ariad Pharmaceuticals, which had credited the development of treatment.