Acorda ends development of Ampyra post-stroke

Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ACOR) slipped $0.90 to $20.40 after it said it will discontinue development of Ampyra dalfampridine to improve post-stroke walking difficulties. Both doses of the candidate failed to show "sufficient efficacy to support further development" in the Phase III MILESTONE study, Acorda said Monday.

The 368-patient trial evaluated 10 mg and 7.5 mg doses of Ampyra twice daily on a primary endpoint measuring the proportion of patients improving by 20% in a two-minute walk test at 12 weeks. The high and low doses led to improvements in 19% and 14% of patients, compared with 13.5% for placebo. The company said the data were "not sufficiently clinically meaningful." Spokesperson Jeff Macdonald told BioCentury the analysis was conducted before the study reached full enrollment and it was not powered to assess statistical significance. ...