Embattled drugmaker Elan has delivered more bad news with the abandonment of any further trials of an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine which has left 15 people suffering from brain inflammation.
Analysts said the decision by Elan and its joint-venture partner, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the pharmaceutical division of American Home Products, meant there would be major delays before they could test a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
The news had been expected by the stock market after details of the number of people suffering serious side effects while taking the An-1792 vaccine became public.
Last week it emerged that 12 people had become seriously ill after receiving multiple doses of the drug. Yesterday, the company said that figure had risen to 15.
Elan shares were unchanged after the announcement closing at €16 in Dublin yesterday but traded lower in New York closing at $14.07, down 0.21 per cent.
Analysts said the abandonment of one of Elan's main pipeline drugs had already been largely reflected in a much lower share price in recent weeks.
A spokesman for Elan said both companies remained committed to developing a treatment for Alzheimer's and would begin working on other vaccines. Elan and Wyeth had spent several hundreds of millions of dollars on this project to date, the spokesman said.
Clinical trials of An-1972 were suspended in January after four patients in France showed signs of inflammation in the central nervous system. Since then a further 11 patients reported similar symptoms. Some 360 people were involved in the testing of the vaccine.
The decision to abondon the trials follows extensive consultation between Elan and Wyeth and the independent safety monitoring committee.
Patients will continue to be monitored to assess their ongoing safety and the companies are in contact with regulatory agencies in the US and Europe on these efforts, they said yesterday.
"Our decision to first suspend dosing, and now permanently discontinue dosing in this exploratory phase of clinical research with this single compound, in our opinion, remains in the best interest of the health and safety of patients. There are additional compounds under pre-clinical evaluation as part of this collaboration. We believe that these alternative therapeutic candidates may result in a treatment for Alzheimer's disease," said Elan chief scientific and medical officer, Dr Ivan Lieberburg.
Mr Patrick Gage, president of Wyeth research, said these developments were not uncommon in early clinical research. "Our immediate goals are the safety of all patients involved in the trial and to gain a greater understanding of the nature of these events." The trials were undertaken in the US and four European states. The patients participating had received multiple doses of AN-1792.
As Elan's efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer's are now stalled, analysts are turning their attention to trials of its Antegren drug, which is being tested as a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis.
