Telcyta, its most advanced experimental drug, didn't prolong life in patients with ovarian and lung cancers.

women with ovarian cancer who took its experimental drug Telcyta in a trial died five months earlier than those on standard chemotherapy

Another study, in lung cancer, also showed patients died more rapidly on the drug.

``This raises the question of what did they know, and when did they know it,''

Did they continue the study at a time they saw patients on the drug were doing worse. Those are the questions I ask.''

an independent inquiry

to investigate whether the trial met safety and ethics requirements.

`Small companies with a small portfolio of products that they are aggressively trying to promote often overreach in their studies,''

``It's an important question that needs to be asked.''

Telcyta is a conventional chemical compound designed to active inside tumors,

the same way in humans that the company suggested it did in animal tests.