SERVIER
22.10.2021 09:02:09 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Servier, a global independent pharmaceutical group, announced today that the primary objective (progression free survival) of the Phase III SOLSTICE trial has not been met. SOLSTICE was designed to evaluate the superiority of LONSURF® (trifluridine/tipiracil) + bevacizumab over capecitabine + bevacizumab in 1st line unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in patients non-eligible for intensive therapy. The trial will continue as planned given that no deleterious effects and no new safety issues have been raised in either study arm.
Data from the primary analysis will be presented at an upcoming medical congress.
“We remain committed to improving outcomes in mCRC and we will continue to follow patients as planned in order to perform the main secondary endpoint analysis on overall survival in 2023,” said Patrick Therasse, M.D., Ph. D., Head of Late Stage and Life Cycle Management, and Deputy Head Oncology and Immuno-Oncology Therapeutic Area, Servier. “The clinical value of LONSURF in its current indications remains unchanged, and the ongoing Phase III SUNLIGHT trial (LONSURF + bevacizumab versus LONSURF in 3rd line mCRC) is proceeding as planned.”
Nearly 1.4 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) each year worldwide,1 equating to 10% of the global cancer cases.1 In Europe, CRC is the second most common cause of cancer death,2 and metastatic (when the cancer has spread from the primary site to other parts of the body) patients have a 5-year survival rate of just 11%.2 Standard chemotherapy regimens for mCRC include fluoropyrimidines, oxaliplatin, irinotecan or targeted treatments, such as those that target vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) or endothelial growth factor receptors (EGFR).
“Metastatic colorectal cancer patients who are not well enough to undergo intensive chemotherapy have limited options, and quality of life is a priority,” said Professor Thierry André, MD, Saint Antoine Hospital, Paris, France, and Lead Investigator for the SOLSTICE study. “We are continuously searching for new ways to give these patients efficient treatment with low toxicities.”
Servier is committed to developing new treatments to support patients in their fight against gastrointestinal cancer.
#ENDS#
About SOLSTICE
SOLSTICE is an open-label, randomized, multicentre Phase III trial in 856 unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer patients who are not candidates for, or do not require, intensive therapy. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive 1st
line LONSURF + bevacizumab versus capecitabine + bevacizumab. The primary objective is to demonstrate superior progression free survival with LONSURF + bevacizumab over capecitabine + bevacizumab. The first patient was enrolled in March 2019.
For more information on SOLSTICE, please visit www.ClinicalTrials.gov (https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03869892 ). The ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier is NCT03869892.
About LONSURF
LONSURF
consists of a thymidine-based nucleoside analog, trifluridine, and the thymidine phosphorylase (TP) inhibitor, tipiracil, which increases trifluridine exposure by inhibiting its metabolism by TP. Trifluridine is incorporated into DNA, resulting in DNA dysfunction and inhibition of cell proliferation.
In the EU, LONSURF is indicated as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with mCRC who have been previously treated with, or are not considered candidates for, available therapies including fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapies, anti- VEGF agents, and anti-EGFR agents. LONSURF is also indicated as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic gastric cancer (mGC), including adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction (mGEJC), who have been previously treated with at least two prior systemic treatment regimens for advanced disease.
As of October 2021, LONSURF has been approved in 96 countries for the treatment of advanced mCRC and in 80 countries for the treatment of advanced mGC/mGEJC.
LONSURF was discovered and developed by Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. In June 2015, Taiho Pharmaceutical and Servier entered into an exclusive license agreement for the co-development and commercialization of LONSURF in Europe and other countries outside of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Asia.
About Servier
Servier is a global pharmaceutical group governed by a Foundation. With a strong international presence in 150 countries and a total revenue of 4.7 billion euros in 2020, Servier employs 22,500 people worldwide. Servier is an independent group that invests over 20% of its brand-name revenue in Research and Development every year. To accelerate therapeutic innovation for the benefit of patients, the Group is committed to open and collaborative innovation with academic partners, pharmaceutical groups, and biotech companies. It also integrates the patient's voice at the heart of its activities, from research to support beyond the pill.
A leader in cardiology, the ambition of the Servier Group is to become a renowned and innovative player in oncology. Its growth is based on a sustained commitment to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, oncology, neuroscience and immuno-inflammatory diseases. To promote access to healthcare for all, the Servier Group also offers a range of quality generic drugs covering most pathologies. More information: servier.com .
Follow us on Social Media:
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
References
1
Digestive Cancers Europe. Prevalence of Colorectal Cancer. Available at: https://digestivecancers.eu/colorectal-cancer/prevalence-of-colorectal-cancer-prevalence/?menu_id=13873
Last accessed: October 2021.
2
World Health Organisation. GLOBOCAN. Cancer today. Estimated age-standardized incidence rates (World) in 2018, all cancers, both sexes, all ages. Available at: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/online-analysis-map?v=2018&mode=population&mode_population=continents&population=900&populations=900&key=asr&sex=0&cancer=39&type=0&statistic=5&prevalence=0&population_group=0&ages_group%5B%5D=0&ages_group%5B%5D=17&nb_items=10&group_cancer=1&include_nmsc=1&include_nmsc_other=1&projection=natural-earth&color_palette=default&map_scale=quantile&map_nb_colors=5&continent=0&rotate=%255B10%252C0%255D
Last accessed: October 2021.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211022005006/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Philip Morris International’s Moira Gilchrist Positions Human Judgment as a Critical Leadership Advantage Amid Rapid AI Adoption at Wall Street Journal Forum8.5.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
PMI’s Chief Global Communications Officer says companies that safeguard human judgment will gain a competitive edge as AI automates routine knowledge work Philip Morris International’s (PMI) (NYSE:PM) Chief Global Communications Officer, Moira Gilchrist, joined global thought leaders at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything conference in New York to examine why human cognition—judgment, context, creativity, and ethical reasoning—is becoming the most valuable asset in an age of artificial intelligence. “The AI boom is putting a premium on distinctly human capabilities,” said Gilchrist, who took part in the session “Cognition: The New Currency – Why Human Judgment Matters More Than Ever.” Speaking to attendees, she emphasized that, “As knowledge is getting democratized, human judgment, intuition, and creativity become the true differentiators that leaders need to nurture across all levels of their organizations.” Philip Morris International is today a different company, built wi
Fortegra Appoints Iwan Röpcke as Chief Executive Officer, Belgium8.5.2026 09:30:00 CEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc., a global specialty insurer, today announced the appointment of Iwan Röpcke as Chief Executive Officer, Belgium. Mr. Röpcke brings more than 25 years of insurance industry experience to the role, spanning broking, commercial leadership, and executive management across the Benelux and broader European markets. He joins Fortegra from Lloyd’s Insurance Company S.A., where he served as Country Manager for Belgium and the Netherlands, building out the operation from its early stages and overseeing both business strategy and development. Prior to Lloyd's, Mr. Röpcke held senior leadership positions at Willis Towers Watson (via Gras Savoye), where he served as Head of Sales and Head of the Competence Center. His career also includes roles at Inter Partner Assistance (AXA Assistance) as Commercial Director Benelux, Winterthur Europe Assurances, AIG Europe, Aon Belgium, and Marsh. Mr. Röpcke’s industry expertise spans a range of specialty risk areas, with deep relations
KAYTUS Launches All-QLC Flash Storage at AI EXPO 2026 for 10,000-GPU Clusters8.5.2026 09:02:00 CEST | Press release
KAYTUS’s next-generation all-QLC flash solution delivers fully linear performance scaling for massive GPU clusters, while reducing TCO by 70%, enabling ultra-large-scale computing for the era of agentic AI. At AI EXPO KOREA 2026, KAYTUS officially launched its All-QLC Flash Storage Solution, engineered to deliver high performance, massive scalability, and cost efficiency for 10,000-GPU clusters. The solution addresses data-delivery bottlenecks in ultra-large-scale AI training, helping maximize GPU resource utilization. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260508313130/en/ Based on the KR2280 and KR1180 server platforms, the solution is deeply integrated with industry-leading AI-native parallel file systems to eliminate data silos inherent in traditional tiered storage. Purpose-built for read-intensive AI workloads, it overcomes the horizontal scaling limitations of massive clusters. Verified test-data shows that, a
Beneq Appoints Dr. Jason Harrison as Chief Executive Officer8.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Semiconductor industry leader takes the helm to accelerate Beneq’s next phase of growth in atomic layer deposition Beneq Oy, the home of atomic layer deposition (ALD), today announced the appointment of Dr. Jason Harrison as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Harrison succeeds Dr. Tommi Vainio and will lead Beneq into its next phase of growth across semiconductor, optical, and emerging technology markets. A Strategic Leadership Transition Beneq enters its next phase of growth from a position of strong commercial momentum. Recent milestones include the qualification of the Beneq Transform® cluster tool for volume production of GaN power and RF filter devices; the introduction of Beneq Transmute™ and Beneq Transform® XP, both engineered for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) of specialty semiconductors; growing adoption of the P-Series for coating critical chamber parts in advanced node devices; and selection of the C2R™ for AR waveguide production in next-generation XR optics. Against this backd
World Employment Confederation’s 59th Annual Conference to Address Critical Global Labour Market Concerns8.5.2026 07:12:00 CEST | Press release
Senior leaders from policy, business and international institutions are set to discuss critical labour market concerns at the World Employment Confederation’s Annual Conference, during an era of global transformation and disruption never-before-seen. Taking place on 12-13 May in Toronto and entitled ‘Grow With Talent’, this year’s World Employment Conference – co-organised with ACSESS – arrives at a time of profound economic uncertainty. This gathering of leaders and experts will help define the path forward for the global labour market and set the stage for discussions at the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in June. Bettina Schaller, President of World Employment Confederation (WEC) says: “The question at the heart of this year’s World Employment Conference is: how will we mobilise the world’s talent to drive growth in an era of disruption?At a time of accelerating AI adoption, rapid demographic change and an uncertain global economic outlook, pressure on la
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
