BIIB Biogen Inc

By WSJ City 

Drugmakers Biogen and Eisai said on Thursday that they are ending two late-stage trials for an experimental Alzheimer's therapy. That's the latest failure in efforts to find a drug that can stymie the memory-robbing disease.

The announcement, which said an independent committee found the trials for the experimental drug aducanumab were unlikely to succeed, sent shares of both companies plunging more than 25%. Biogen lost about $18bn in market value.

KEY FACTS

   -- Drugs like aducanumab have targeted a sticky substance called Beta 
      amyloid in the brain... 
 
   -- ...with the goal of slowing or halting the progression of Alzheimer's. 
 
   -- But a number of drugs developed with that idea in mind have now failed. 
 
   -- Shares of Biogen fell 29% in recent trading to $227.85. 
 
   -- The American depositary receipts of Eisai dropped 31% to $55.85. 

Why This Matters

Alzheimer's affects an estimated 5m Americans and tens of millions globally. Its biology has been difficult to sort out, however, and no drugs have been approved to treat the underlying causes. Some big drugmakers, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca have steered away from Alzheimer's drug research as a result both of the prominent failures and of gaps in understanding the biology driving the disease.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2019 03:46 ET (07:46 GMT)

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