Amgen, Novartis, Banner Institute Discontinue Alzheimer's Prevention Clinical Research Program

   By Stephen Nakrosis 
 

Amgen Inc. said Thursday a clinical research program it was conducting into Alzheimer's prevention with Novartis AG (NVS) and the Banner Alzheimer's Institute was being discontinued.

The program was studying the effect of the BACE1 inhibitor CNP520, or umibecestat, as part of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Generation Program, Amgen said. Specifically, the program was researching the safety and efficacy of CNP520 for the prevention or delay of the onset of Alzheimer's disease in certain patients.

Amgen said "After review of clinical data, the sponsors concluded that the potential benefit for participants in the studies did not outweigh the risk."

Amgen and Novartis formed a global collaboration in 2015 to develop and commercialize pioneering treatments in the field of migraine and Alzheimer's disease. The studies are sponsored by Amgen and Novartis, in collaboration with Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Amgen said.

David Reese, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen, said "Although the outcomes of the research program did not lead to the results we aimed for, we are committed to sharing our findings to help advance the medical and scientific community one step further toward finding a prevention for this devastating disease."

--Write to Stephen Nakrosis at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 11, 2019 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)

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