Lilly, AZ stop Phase III Alzheimer's trials of BACE inhibitor

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) discontinued a pair of Phase III trials evaluating once-daily oral lanabecestat (AZD3293, LY3314814) to treat Alzheimer's disease after an IDMC analysis concluded that both trials were unlikely to meet their primary endpoints. Lanabecestat is a beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor.

The partners stopped the Phase III AMARANTH trial in patients with early AD and the Phase III DAYBREAK-ALZ trial in patients with mild AD dementia. The primary endpoints of the placebo-controlled trials evaluated change from baseline in the 13-item AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale-13 (ADAS-Cog13) score at week 104 and week 78, respectively...