The companies mutually decided to suspend further development of lunacalcipol injection because of changing US market dynamics.
Cytochroma president and CEO Charles Bishop said Lunacalcipol has shown great promise as a new treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism without the calcemic side effects seen with existing vitamin D hormone therapies.
"But, unfortunately, recent restrictions in government reimbursement for drugs used in US dialysis patients make the continued development of lunacalcipol injection for that patient population financially unsustainable," Bishop added.
In July 2008, the companies signed a license agreement according to which MTPC gained an exclusive license to develop and commercialize lunacalcipol in the US and Asia, including Japan, from Cytochroma.