LLY Eli Lilly and Co

By Preetika Rana 

AstraZeneca PLC and Eli Lilly & Co. on Tuesday scrapped two late-stage trials of an experimental Alzheimer's drug they were co-developing, the latest blow in the long quest to find a breakthrough for the memory-robbing disorder.

The companies said the decision was taken after an independent data monitoring committee concluded that trials associated with lanabecestat, the experimental drug, wouldn't achieve their original goals. The companies said the treatment wasn't working as well as they had hoped and ending the trials wasn't a result of any safety concerns.

An AstraZeneca spokesman said the two will continue to jointly pursue an early-stage trial of another experimental Alzheimer's drug. Lilly separately has other Alzheimer's compounds in clinical trials, according to a company spokeswoman.

Current treatments for Alzheimer's can alleviate symptoms, but don't slow the condition's underlying progression. The brain disease affects an estimated five million Americans, and tens of millions globally, but has been tough for the drug industry to crack because scientists don't fully understand what causes it.

Johnson & Johnson last month abandoned its pursuit of a similar Alzheimer's candidate to the one AstraZeneca and Lilly said they shelved. Pfizer Inc. in January said it would stop trying to discover new drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Late last year, Axovant Sciences Inc. and Biogen Inc. reported disappointing results from ongoing Alzheimer's research.

Some companies say they will continue to look because the need is high and a breakthrough could potentially reap big commercial rewards. Lilly, which has spent three decades trying to find a blockbuster and in 2016 shelved a different Alzheimer's compound it spent $1 billion developing, said it was committed to further research despite the latest setback.

"We won't give up on finding a solution for Alzheimer's patients," Daniel Skovronsky, president of Lilly Research Labs, said in the joint statement.

Indianapolis-based Lilly joined forces with the U.K.'s AstraZeneca to co-develop lanabecestat in 2014. Lilly was responsible for the two trials--one for patients with early Alzheimer's and the other for those suffering a milder form of the disease--while AstraZeneca agreed to take on manufacturing. More than 3,000 patients were enrolled across the trials, which were expected to conclude in 2021, the AstraZeneca spokesman said.

The announcement came after market hours in New York, where Lilly is listed. AstraZeneca's shares were trading down 0.58% on the London Stock Exchange.

Write to Preetika Rana at preetika.rana@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2018 06:16 ET (10:16 GMT)

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