Elan shares plunge 5% after Alzheimer’s drug trial blow

SHARES in Elan — the Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical firm — fell by nearly 5% yesterday after it announced a significant amendment to trials of its leading test treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and analysts reduced their faith in the drug making it to market.

The 24c fall in the share price to e4.80 followed a joint announcement by Elan and Wyeth, the Irish company’s US-based partner in the treatment currently going under the name Bapineuzumab or AAB-001, that the highest of the current three dosages being used in Phase 3 clinical trials is to be discontinued in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s because of a build up of fluid on the brain and swelling as a significant side effect.

In a direct response to the news, Goodbody Stockbrokers said it was reducing its probability rating of Bapineuzumab — the first in line, by a significant distance, of Elan’s pipeline of Alzheimer’s treatments — ever making it to commercial status from its previous 70% to just 30%.

“The discontinuation of one arm is a setback for the development,” commented Goodbody analyst, Ian Hunter.

The dose being discontinued is a 2mg test. The two other smaller dose tests will continue, Elan said.

“The decision to remove the highest dose from development reduces risk to patients and it also helps to reduce risk to the overall development effort,” said Elan president, Carlos Paya.

Dr Paya added: “Our review of the safety data and the feedback from the Safety Monitoring Committee made it clear that continued development of the highest dose was not advisable.”

The continuation of the Phase 3 trials into Bapineuzumab will see newly enrolled patients be treated on doses of either 0.5mg or a maximum of 1mg.