Aveo Pharmaceuticals to pay $4 million to settle kidney drug case

(Reuters) - Biotech company Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc will pay $4 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about U.S. regulators' concerns about its drug to treat kidney cancer, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday. Aveo declined to comment on specifics of the settlement. The company neither admitted nor denied the SEC's allegations, the agency said. The company concealed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's level of concern about the drug, Tivozanib, in public statements to investors, the SEC said. Aveo omitted the "critical fact" that the FDA, which regulates drugs, recommended a second clinical trial to address concerns about patient death rates that become apparent during the drug's first trial, the SEC said. The SEC's case against three former Aveo executives involving statements the company made is continuing, the agency said. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky)