After yet more trial misses, Alzheimer's field tangles over causes; vTv is next in line to read out

The fall of solanezumab late last year, followed by verubecestat in February, sent tremors through the Alzheimer's research community and wiped billions from the share prices of those biologics’ respective developers - Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK).

Neither event impacted the share price of North Carolina-based vTv Therapeutics (Nasdaq: VTVT), whose lead candidate azeliragon uniquely targets RAGE, a receptor in the brain which chief medical officer Larry Altsteil believes is key to the pathology of neurodegeneration.

Talking to The Pharma Letter at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London, Dr Altsteil explains that "if there's a failure in one Abeta program, there's always a shudder of doubt that goes through the remaining programs in that space.”