German drugmaker Merck said that its experimental cancer medicine evofosfamidehas failed in the last stage of clinical tests due to which it won't seek regulatory approval for its treatment.

On Monday, Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck said in a statement that the medicine wasn’t helpful for patients, having pancreatic cancer or soft-tissue sarcoma live longer when taken along with chemotherapy.

Merck has faced a blow by the decision as the drugmakerhas sought new drugs for boosting its lineup, but not a dramatic one. The drugmaker said that it has confidence in its pipeline and is planning to re-allocate resources to other main programs.

The stock has shown slight change in Frankfurt, dropping less than 1% to 92.41 euros in Frankfurt. However, its partner Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. has slumped 82% in New York.

Johanna Walton and colleagues at Credit Suisse Group wrote in a note to clients, “We viewed these studies, particularly in pancreatic cancer, as high risk, so today's result is not a major surprise”.

Analysts at Baader-Helvea had anticipated that the medicine would harvest peak annual sales of 500 million euros ($543 million). Whereas others said that they hadn't issued a prediction for the drug sales because failure risk was quite high.

Chief Executive Officer Karl-Ludwig Kley has put a bet on the company’s acquisition of chemical firm Sigma-Aldrich Corp. for reduction of Merck's reliance on its pharmaceuticals unit after over a decade of failing to create a new drug.

The German conglomerate, which is also the maker of products that range from liquid crystals for screens to specialty drugs and chemicals for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, in October said that deputy CEO Stefan Oschmann will succeed Kley in April 2016.