By 2016 it had advanced to
phase III[4]clinical trials for the treatment of
asthma.[5] However, in 2019 Novartis announced that it was removing fevipiprant from its development program, given that the medicine has failed in two clinical trials in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. The firm said that it had hoped fevipiprant would be a billion-dollar-selling asthma drug.[6]
A 2021 analysis sponsored by Novartis of the two phase III trials of fevipiprant concluded that "The ZEAL studies did not demonstrate significant improvement in lung function or other clinical outcomes. These results suggest that DP2 receptor inhibition with fevipiprant is not effective in the studied patient population".[7]
^Erpenbeck VJ, Popov TA, Miller D, Weinstein SF, Spector S, Magnusson B, et al. (August 2016). "The oral CRTh2 antagonist QAW039 (fevipiprant): A phase II study in uncontrolled allergic asthma". Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 39: 54–63.
doi:
10.1016/j.pupt.2016.06.005.
PMID27354118.
^Clinical trial number NCT02555683 for "A 52-week, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of QAW039 when Added to Existing Asthma Therapy in Patients with Uncontrolled Severe Asthma" at
ClinicalTrials.gov
^Gonem S, Berair R, Singapuri A, Hartley R, Laurencin MF, Bacher G, et al. (September 2016). "Fevipiprant, a prostaglandin D2 receptor 2 antagonist, in patients with persistent eosinophilic asthma: a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial". The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine. 4 (9): 699–707.
doi:
10.1016/S2213-2600(16)30179-5.
hdl:2381/38430.
PMID27503237.