AZD3480 will not go into Ph III CDS testing

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca and US drug developer Targacept say that top-line results from a Phase IIb trial of AZD3480 in cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia were disappointing and do not warrant progressing the agent into late-stage testing.

The HALO trial showed that AZD3480 did not meet the criteria for statistical significance on the primary endpoints, improvement on various cognitive domains measured by the IntegNeuro computerized test battery. AZD3480 was generally well tolerated, they noted.

In addition to the HALO study, the firms have also previously reported top-line data from a Phase IIb trial of AZD3480 in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease and are currently evaluating the agent in a Phase II exploratory study in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.