Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd announced it would discontinue a late-stage study testing its experimental treatment for amyloidosis, as it did not meet the first of two main goals, Reuters reported.

Amyloidosis is a rare disease caused by an abnormal build up of a substance called amyloid in organs.

Treatment with Takeda’s Ninlaro, in combination with dexamethasone, did not show a significant improvement in patients’ overall hematologic response compared to standard of care regimens, the company said.

While we are disappointed with this outcome, we aim to maximize our learnings from this trial and share findings with the community in hopes of helping to improve care for patients living with this devastating disease,” said Phil Rowlands, Ph.D., Head, Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit, Takeda.

“This has been one of the largest studies ever conducted in systemic light-chain AL amyloidosis and we are proud to have led it. This study demonstrated our dedication to this rare and traditionally difficult-to-enroll patient population and we thank the patients and investigators for their engagement and participation. We remain optimistic about NINLARO and continue to investigate NINLARO in patient populations across the continuum of multiple myeloma care.”