BACE Hopes Finally Fizzle As Biogen/Eisai End Elenbecestat Alzheimer's Studies

Biogen investors cheered the end of the company’s investment in the Phase III studies due to an unfavorable risk-benefit ratio – a widely expected result for the last clinical BACE inhibitor program.

alzheimer's disease on MRI - Image
Elenbecestat was the last BACE inhibitor left in clinical trials. • Source: Shutterstock

Biogen and Eisai Co. Ltd. announced a decision on 13 September that seemed inevitable after many failures in the same drug class: the companies said they will discontinue two Phase III clinical trials (MISSION AD1 and AD2) for the beta amyloid cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor elenbecestat in Alzheimer’s disease after a safety review by the data safety monitoring board observed an unfavorable risk-benefit ratio.

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