Celgene Revlimid drug trial temporarily suspended

BOSTON, April 11 (Reuters) - A trial of Celgene Inc.'s (CELG.O) cancer drug Revlimid was temporarily suspended as of April 4, according to the Southwest Oncology Group, which was running the late-stage trial.

The statement was made on the group's Web site.

Matthew Osborne, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, said he believes the suspension is to alter the protocol to allow patients to switch to a different treatment regimen which was recently shown to improve survival.

The study was testing Revlimid plus standard dose dexamethasone, a steroid, versus dexamethasone alone. Recently, a trial of Revlimid plus low-dose dexamethasone showed a survival advantage versus Revlimid plus high-dose dexamethasone.

((Reporting by Toni Clarke, editing by Gerald E. McCormick; Reuters Messaging, toni.clarke.reuters.com@reuters.net, 617-367-4106)) Keywords: CELGENE/TRIAL

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