Medivation persists with Dimebon research in Alzheimer's, despite earlier failures

US biotech firm Medivation (Nasdaq: MDVN) says that patient enrollment was completed at end November in the CONCERT study, a 12-month, Phase III clinical trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease evaluating the potential efficacy of Dimebon (latrepirdine) when added to ongoing treatment with donepezil.

Medivation is conducting this study under its collaboration agreement with drug behemoth Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) which acquired rights the product in 2008 in a deal worth a potential $725 million ($225 million upfront) to the former company.

Dimebon - an old Russian antihistamine approved in that market in 1983 - had once been touted as a blockbuster drug for AD, with potential for anything between $1.5 billion and $5 billion annual sales. However, earlier this year, the majority of observers wrote it off after - somewhat unexpectedly - it failed to meet co-primary or secondary efficacy endpoints compared to placebo in two Phase III trials (The Pharma Letter March 4). After the disastrous results, Medivation’s shares cratered and have yet to recover from the beating they received.