Trial tinkering seen as bad sign for Biogen's aducanumab

16 February 2018

A day after Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) pulled the plug on its Phase III verubecestat program, alarm bells started ringing over news that Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) is adjusting its aducanumab trial, adding over 500 more patients.

While the East Coast, USA-based biotech is yet to see any data from the blinded study, analysts interpreted the move as indicating reduced confidence in the trial design.

Chief medical officer Al Sandrock explained: “We did see more variability on the primary endpoint than assumed when we did the original sample size estimations.”

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK