Actelion's silver lining: macitentan dropped in IPF but safety data boost PAH hopes
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Every cloud has a silver lining. For investors in Actelion, reporting results of an exploratory Phase II study of its targeted endothelin receptor antagonist macitentan in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the disappointment that the drug didn't reach its primary endpoint was more than offset by the safety and tolerability data reported. This is because those data could bolster the prospects for macitentan in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), for which a Phase III study is scheduled to report in the first half of next year.