Myriad Genetics and partner Lundbeck have suffered a major setback with the news that the investigational Alzheimer's disease drug Flurizan has failed in a late-stage study.
Myriad announced that results from a Phase III trial of Flurizan (tarenflurbil) in 1,684 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease did not correspond to the data observed in Phase II studies and the US firm has decided to discontinue development of the drug. As for Lundbeck, head of drug development Anders Gersel Pedersen said that "the first headline results from this trial are discouraging for patients and relatives affected by Alzheimer's disease" and make it "less likely that these initial observations could lead to an approval". He added that "we will now look further into the details of the study to evaluate whether patients in fact could benefit from the compound".
Lundbeck acquired the European rights for Flurizan last month for an initial $100 million, hoping that the drug would help the soften the blow of patent expiries on its blockbuster antidepressant Cipralex/Lexapro (escitalopram) from 2012. The news has been received badly by investors this morning and at 10.45, Lundbeck shares were down 10% to 108 Danish kroner.
3 comments:
The cost of bringing a drug to market, as concluded by Tauzin, et. al., is B.S. You factor in the NIH suppport combined with the tax breaks received by pharma, and I could bring a drug to market.
I work for a company that took a drug from molecule to FDA approval for less than $40 million.
I don't get it. It's just a link to a story about a drug that didn't leave Phase II?
what does that have to do with Costs as a WHOLE?
Post a Comment