NeuroSearch halts Alzheimer's drug plan

Danish biotech firm NeuroSearch has decided not to start clinical development of drugs aimed at treating Alzheimer's disease.

NeuroSearch and its partner, Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, have concluded that results of phase II clinical studies of the compound NS2330 did not meet the company's criteria for proceeding with phase III trials, NeuroSearch said in a statement.

The project was the most advanced in NeuroSearch's pipeline and analysts had hoped the drug would be the first NeuroSearch product to make it to market.

As Boehringer Ingelheim was only financing the development of the compound, the decision to abandon the project will not influence NeuroSearch's other planned activities nor its financial forecast for 2005, the company said.

While Boehringer Ingelheim decided to terminate the development of the Alzheimer drug, remaining options for Parkinson's disease are still being assessed, NeuroSearch said.

NeuroSearch's second most advanced project is its N2359 compound for the treatment of depression, which it is developing with GlaxoSmithKline.