Biogen, Eisai scrap two late-stage trials of its Alzheimer’s drug

By PharmaCompass

2019-03-28

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Biogen Inc. and its partner Eisai Co., Ltd. announced last week that they are ending two late-stage trials of their experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug — aducanumab.

The decision came after a futility analysis conducted by an independent monitoring committee concluded the trials had very low chances of success.

Ironically, a day later, the companies announced they have decided to start an Alzheimer’s disease study of BAN2401 — a monoclonal antibody targeting beta-amyloid much like aducanumab.

“We still believe that amyloid beta hypothesis is potentially the right approach for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” an Eisai spokesman told Reuters.

Alzheimer’s has been the holy grail for pharma companies, with no cure and only five FDA-approved prescription drugs to treat its symptoms. In the past, pharma biggies such as Janssen Pharmaceutical, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck have also had to end their mid-stage or late-stage trials on experimental Alzheimer’s treatments due to uncertainties in trial results.

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