An Alzheimer’s drug being developed by Biohaven Pharmaceuticals fell short in a clinical trial of patients with mild-to-moderate forms of the disease.
Patients taking the drug, troriluzole, showed no statistically significant improvement compared to a placebo after 48 weeks, Biohaven announced Monday.
“This study was well conducted, but unfortunately it is clear from this preliminary analysis that troriluzole is not efficacious as a symptomatic treatment in a mixed population of patients with mild and moderate AD,” Dr. Vlad Coric, CEO, said in a statement.
But Biohaven is not pulling the plug on the program just yet, saying there were signs the drug could work in a subgroup of patients who are still in the early stage of the disease.
The company is waiting for additional biomarker data and other secondary analyses before deciding on the future of the drug, Coric said.
The Alzheimer’s trial was the latest setback for troriluzole, which Biohaven has been testing against four different diseases — generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxia.
The drug regulates the brain chemical glutamate, which plays a role in neuropsychiatric disorders.
A year ago, Biohaven scrapped its plans to pursue the drug as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder after it failed a Phase 3 trial.
The drug also missed the mark in a proof-of-concept trial for OCD last summer. But Biohaven is moving forward with a Phase 3 trial anyway, hoping a higher dose and larger sample size will make a difference.
Biohaven’s stock opened at $76.35 on Tuesday, down from Friday’s close of $84.91. It was trading at $84.47 as of late morning Tuesday.
The company’s migraine drug, Nurtec ODT, won FDA approval last year.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com