More failures in Alzheimer's a major risk, report says

Society will owe a massive debt to the company which develops an effective Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatment, but that could still be a long way away, according to a new report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI).

The report, by senior industry analyst Sam Fazeli, looks at the challenges faced by US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) with its EXPEDITION3 Phase III of solanezumab, as well as other current AD candidates such as Biogen's (Nasdaq: BIIB) aducanumab.

Referring to the Eli Lilly trial, from which data is due by the end of the year, Dr Fazeli writes: “BI analysis suggests that given the many complexities of the underlying disease, and the peculiarity of the antibodies used in clinical trials, it's impossible to predict any level of success. Our analysis provides reasons that stack up against a potential positive outcome, irrespective of data published to date.”