BIIB discontinues dexpramipexole for ALS
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) fell $2.14 to $147.86 on Thursday after discontinuing development of dexpramipexole for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The stock move translates to a loss in market cap of $506.3 million for a closing valuation of $35 billion. Biogen Idec made the decision after top-line data from the Phase III EMPOWER trial showed that twice-daily dexpramipexole missed the primary endpoint of improving function and survival as measured by the change in Combined Assessment of Function and Survival (CAFS) scores from baseline to 12 months vs. placebo. The double-blind, international trial enrolled 943 patients. Biogen Idec has exclusive, worldwide rights from Knopp Biosciences LLC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to develop and commercialize dexpramipexole under a 2010 deal. Biogen Idec declined to comment on whether it would return rights to the product, a small modulator of mitochondrial bioenergetics with an unknown target. The compound is an optical enantiomer of pramipexole, a dopamine agonist. ...