AstraZeneca wields ax, scrapping midphase programs from $1B takeover, Heptares pact in latest quarterly cull

AstraZeneca has completed a clearout of its midphase pipeline, dumping a clutch of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease drugs it picked up in deals including its $1 billion takeover of Ardea Biosciences.

The 2012 takeover of Ardea has delivered the approval of a drug—the 2015 authorization of Zurampic for use in gout—but AstraZeneca’s efforts to repeat the regulatory success have run aground. AstraZeneca and Ardea put verinurad, which, like Zurampic, is designed to inhibit a regulator of uric acid excretion, through more than 20 trials in a range of indications without finding a path forward.