Merck Ends Clinical Trial of Alzheimer's Drug
February 13 2018 - 6:16PM
Dow Jones News
By Aisha Al-Muslim
Merck & Co. (MRK) announced Tuesday it will stop a clinical
trial of an experimental Alzheimer's disease drug, the latest
setback in the pharmaceutical industry's quest to find a better
treatment for the brain disorder.
The decision to stop the phase 3 study evaluating the drug,
verubecestat, follows a recommendation by an external
data-monitoring committee, which concluded that "it was unlikely
that positive benefit/risk could be established if the trial
continued," Merck said. The committee had assessed overall benefits
and risks during a recent safety analysis, the company said.
"We are disappointed with this outcome, especially given the
lack of treatment options for patients suffering from Alzheimer's
disease," Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president of Merck Research
Laboratories, said in prepared remarks. He added, "Despite this
outcome, Merck remains committed to developing novel therapies for
the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative
diseases."
Last year, the biopharmaceutical company had stopped a clinical
trial of verubecestat after an outside committee monitoring the
study of more than 2,000 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's
concluded there was "virtually no chance of finding a positive
clinical effect." The study was testing whether verubecestat slowed
declines in patients' cognition and daily functioning compared with
a placebo.
Current treatments for Alzheimer's can alleviate symptoms but
don't cure the condition. The dementia-causing brain disorder
afflicts an estimated more than five million Americans and tens of
millions globally, but has been a tough disease for the drug
industry to crack because scientists don't fully understand what
causes it.
Shares in Merck fell 0.4% to $54.70 in after-hours trading
Tuesday. Shares are down 15% in the last year.
Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 13, 2018 18:01 ET (23:01 GMT)
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