Eli Lilly will withdraw its sepsis medication Xigris following results from a recent study that showed no benefit in taking the drug.

The PROWESS-SHOCK study, which enrolled 1,696 patients, showed the drug did not meet the primary endpoint of a statistically-significant reduction in 28-day all-cause mortality in patients suffering from septic shock.

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Lilly undertook the trial in order to gain continued market authorisation for Europe following its 2002 approval but the drug, which was originally approved for use in the US in November 2001, will now be withdrawn.

Once touted as a potential blockbuster, Xigris achieved sales of $104m last year.

Lilly now expects to incur a charge of between $75-95m due to the withdrawl.

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