Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and its partner Active Biotech (NASDAQ OMX NORDIC: ACTI) reported on Friday that the CONCERTO trial of its ethical drug laquinimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) had not met its primary endpoint. This was the result of a trial of laquinimod (0.6 mg/daily capsules) versus a placebo to evaluate the time to Confirmed Disability Progression (CDP) after at least 3 months.
Laquinimod is a once-daily oral, investigational, selective aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activator targeting neurodegeneration and inflammation with a novel mechanism of action being developed for the treatment of RRMS, primary-progressive MS (PPMS), and Huntington disease.
Teva's share price rose 0.9% on Friday. In the past year, Teva has fallen 43%, and its market cap has shrunk to $31.7 billion.
Earlier this year, Teva and Active Biotech announced that they were ceasing to give high doses of laquinimod in two studies of multiple sclerosis following non-fatal cardiac events reported in eight patients.
"We have learned a great deal from the CONCERTO trial and we will continue our analysis of the data," said Teva president of Global R&D and chief scientific officer Michael Hayden. "Although we are disappointed by not meeting the primary endpoint, we did see positive results on a number of secondary and exploratory endpoints which fuels our belief in the potential of laquinimod as a possible treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. While we have no current plans to further pursue laquinimod in RRMS, we are continuing to study it in two other trials."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 7, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017