Cubist Pharmaceuticals Director Of Clinical Research Unsure Which Test Group Given Placebo

Lexington, MA

James Hatfield, PhD., director of clinical research at Cubist Pharmaceuticals has reportedly forgotten which test group was given a placebo in their phase III clinical trial of Ceftolozane, the firm's flagship antimicrobial B-lactamase inhibitor.  "Shit, I know I wrote this down somewhere," muttered an exasperated Hatfield.  "Goddammit," he added.

Ceftolozane, a potent antibiotic which showed significant promise in combating multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections, began phase III clinical trials in 2013.  In June of 2014,  Cubist had submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration.

After exceptional results from the phase III trials, Ceftolozane seemed poised to enter the US market in late 2014; however, doubt has been cast on the clinical data after recent revelations that the double blind experiment had unintentionally become triple blind.

"I mean, it sort of looks like Group A was given the active drug from these clinical reports," stated Hatfield, intently staring at one of two sets of clinical data.  "Really, I've got a fifty-fifty shot at being right here."

As of press time Dr. Hatfield was reportedly overheard saying "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" from inside his locked office.