First biomarker data from pioneering tau program in Alzheimer’s cloud use of antibodies for the target 

Data presented at the annual CTAD meeting hint that anti-tau therapy semorinemab from Genentech and AC Immune may have engaged its target yet failed to decrease tau aggregation in a Phase II study to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The findings call into question the approach of using antibodies to address tau, the next major target after amyloid.

It would “not be productive to continue development” of the compound, said Stephen Salloway in a panel discussion after the presentation. Salloway is a professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Brown University and director of Neurology and the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital. ...