A Biogen facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Biogenic plans to advance an experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug to late-stage testing despite disappointing mid-stage trial data, the company announced Thursday.
Biogen said its experimental drug that targets tau, a protein associated with memory loss disease, failed to show better responses at higher doses.
Nonetheless, Biogen plans to advance it to phase 3 testing due to signals suggesting the treatment lowers tau levels and slows cognitive decline, particularly at the lower dose.
Dr. Priya Singhal, head of development at Biogen, said the results are compelling.
“We’re really excited to have been able to demonstrate an unprecedented combination of Tau reduction in pathology and cognitive benefit and to be close to isolating a dose,” she said. “These are the three conditions you need to move to phase 3.”
The results are the latest example of Biogen’s uneven journey to develop Alzheimer’s drugs. Biogen has been studying brain diseases for years. The company has brought to market two drugs designed to slow cognitive decline, although it withdrew its first drug, Aduhelm, after failing to overcome controversy surrounding its approval.
Aduhelm and Biogen’s other Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi, remove a protein associated with Alzheimer’s called amyloid from the brain. Its latest experimental drug, Diranersen, is an antisense oligonucleotide that limits the production of another protein called tau.
Rival Elie Lilly is also studying drugs that seek to decrease tau levels.