Myriad/Lundbeck drop Ph III AD drug Flurizan

USA-based Myriad Genetics and Danish drugmaker H Lundbeck have discontinued the development of Flurizan (tarenflurbil), after the drug failed to improve cognition and activities of daily living - the primary endpoints - in an 18-month Phase III study in mild Alzheimer's disease.

During fiscal 2008, Myriad spent approximately $60.0 million on development of the agent. The remaining costs to wrap up the program are projected to be $8.0 million in total, spread primarily over the next two fiscal quarters.

Last month (Marketletter June 2), Lundbeck acquired the European commercialization rights to Flurizan for an initial payment of $100.0 million, which the company says it will now write down in the second quarter. At the time, Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Benjamin Yeoh described the price tag as high but necessary given the drug's peak annual sales potential of $1.5 billion, which awaited late-stage data for validation. Together with Elan/Wyeth's bapineuzumab, which is still in development, Flurizan was set to be the first agent in the new class of disease-modifying therapies for AD.