Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc announced the companies have begun enrolling patients in an international phase-3 trial to evaluate Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with radioactive iodine-refractory, locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer. This phase-3 trial was started based on the results from phase-2 clinical trials evaluating Nexavar in patients with advanced thyroid cancer.

“Patients with thyroid cancer who failed to respond to surgical or radiotherapies, have limited treatment options to help them manage their disease,” said Dimitris Voliotis, vice president, Nexavar clinical development, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. “Recognizing this unmet need, we are evaluating Nexavar in this special patient population.”

“Based on the positive signal generated in the phase-2 trial, the initiation of this phase-3 represents progress in exploring the full potential of Nexavar in a variety of treatment settings and tumour types,” said Todd Yancey, vice president of clinical development at Onyx. “Building on our successful foundation of treating unresectable liver cancer and advanced kidney cancer, we are hopeful that this phase-3 trial will lead to a new treatment option for patients with non-responsive thyroid cancer.”

Onyx Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of people with cancer.