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Fate of novel painkiller mAbs hangs in balance

Nature Biotechnology volume 29, pages 173–174 (2011)Cite this article

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An Erratum to this article was published on 07 May 2012

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New York–based Pfizer leads the quest for novel painkillers with tanezumab (PF-4383119), a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) that blocks NGF. Preclinical models of pain suggest that this mAb is equally or more efficacious than opiates or NSAIDs. Tanezumab was originally discovered by Genentech spin-off Rinat of South San Francisco. The antibody passed to Pfizer in 2006 when the pharma giant acquired Rinat.

But tanezumab's steady progress faltered last summer when some individuals in phase 3 osteoarthritis trials developed cases of joint damage. Sixteen of them needed surgery to replace joints when they developed progressively worsening osteoarthritis with evidence of bone necrosis inferred from radiographic images. The FDA responded by placing on hold phase 3 trials testing Pfizer's NGF inhibitor in osteoarthritis and some other pain indications in June and July. Then in December, an additional case of joint failure cropped up, suggesting problems with the entire class of drugs. The FDA did not release information on which drug caused the additional case, yet it still decided to extend the hold to other companies developing competing NGF-targeting antibodies (Table 1).

Table 1 Selected anti-NGF antibodies in clinical development for pain
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Change history

  • 07 May 2012

    In the version of this article initially published, in Table 1 on p.174, Medi-578 was mistakenly said to be halted in phase 2. In fact, it was stopped in phase 1. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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    Ken Garber

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Garber, K. Fate of novel painkiller mAbs hangs in balance. Nat Biotechnol 29, 173–174 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0311-173

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