Aug 13 (Reuters) - Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc said its experimental drug failed to meet the main goal in a mid-stage study in patients with dry eye disease.

The study was testing the drug, R348, against a placebo in the trial.

Rigel said it had decided not to initiate new studies of R348 for this indication, but was continuing a mid-stage study of the drug in dry eye patients with graft versus host disease.

The company also said it would stop testing another drug, codenamed R118, due to its side-effect profile in early-stage trials.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bangalore; Editing by Simon Jennings)