Alzheimer’s disease: Phase III clinical trials of lanabecestat to discontinue

Eli Lilly (IN, USA) and AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) have announced that they are discontinuing the global Phase III clinical trials of lanabecestat, an oral β-secretase cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The decision has been based on recommendations by an independent data monitoring committee (IDMC), which concluded that both the AMARANTH trial and the DAYBREAK-ALZ trial were not likely to meet their primary endpoints upon completion and therefore, should be stopped for futility. The AMARANTH trial (NCT02245737) randomized patients with early AD to receive lanabecestat, 20 mg or 50 mg, or placebo orally once-daily for...