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ARTICLE | Clinical News

Acorda discontinues PD candidate tozadenant

November 20, 2017 5:54 PM UTC

Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) discontinued development of Parkinson's disease candidate tozadenant (SYN115) "based on new information" related to cases of agranulocytosis disclosed last week that were possibly related to tozadenant and in some cases associated with sepsis and death (see BioCentury Extra, Nov. 15).

Based on the new undisclosed information, Acorda concluded that it "could not be confident that weekly white blood cell count screening would sufficiently ensure patient safety." Last week, Acorda said it planned to increase frequency of blood cell count monitoring to weekly in the Phase III program of tozadenant in response to the agranulocytosis events. Under the original protocol, blood cell count monitoring frequency began with a two-week assessment, followed by monthly evaluations for a number of months and then every three months...