(Reuters) – Drug developer Neurotrope Inc’s shares tumbled nearly 80% on Monday after the company said its experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease did not meet the main goal of a mid-stage study.
This is the second time in just over two years that the treatment – Bryostatin-1 – failed to meet its targets, raising questions about the drug’s future. (https://reut.rs/2kCiDyh)
The treatment, Bryostatin-1, did not show any significant difference in patients after 13 weeks compared with those on placebo, the company said on Monday.
Neurotrope said it intends to conduct a complete review of the data to determine next steps in the treatment’s development.
Alzheimer’s disease, which affects parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language, is a progressive condition that could seriously disrupt a patient’s ability to carry out daily activities.
Several drugmakers such as Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca Plc, Roche AG, Pfizer Inc, Merck and Co Inc and Johnson and Johnson have all previously failed in their attempts to develop treatments for the memory-robbing disease.
The company’s shares were trading down 77% at $1 in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
