Double whammy for Lundbeck, as two investigational CNS med trials fail

Friday turned out a bad day for Danish CNS specialist Lundbeck (LUND: CO), after the company reported disappointing results for two of its medicines, one currently being investigated for Tourette syndrome and the other for Parkinson’s disease, leading to a fall in the firm’s shares of as much as 4%, though they closed the day barely changed.

First, Lundbeck announced clinical results of a Phase IIa investigational study with Lu AG06466 for the treatment of adult patients with Tourette syndrome (TS), showing insufficient evidence to proceed with the development of Lu AG06466 in TS. The drug was acquired last year via the purchase of USA-based Abide Therapeutics, which involved an upfront $250 million payment and more contingent.

The randomized, double blind, placebo controlled and with individual dose titration clinical trial enrolled 48 patients at multiple sites in Europe. In this study the primary endpoint, Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS-TTS) was not statistically significant in favoring Lu AG06466 compared to placebo after 28 and 56 days of treatment.