Janssen discontinues two Alzheimer's trials for BACE inhibitor

The Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) said it is discontinuing two trials testing atabecestat (JNJ-54861911) to treat Alzheimer's disease after an evaluation showed the therapy led to elevated liver enzyme levels. Atabecestat is a beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) inhibitor.

The trials -- the international Phase IIb/III EARLY trial and a European Phase II safety study -- had enrolled more than 600 patients in the early stages of AD...