A highly watched Alzheimer's drug from Roche failed in its final-stage test, but Roche stock rose moderately as other Alzheimer's stocks tumbled.
The company tested its drug, crenezumab, in patients with a genetic mutation that causes early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Like Biogen's approved drug, Aduhelm, Roche's crenezumab works by neutralizing abnormal protein in the brain known as beta amyloid. But doing so didn't slow or prevent cognitive decline for Alzheimer's patients.
"Although the results of the study are not what we had hoped, we are confident that the rich data we collected will enhance the broader scientific community's knowledge of Alzheimer's and inform future research efforts in the field," Rachelle Doody, Roche's neurodegeneration leader, said in a written statement.
On the stock market today, Roche stock advanced 1.6% to 39.14. But its news slammed biotechs working on Alzheimer's treatments, including AC Immune. AC Immune, which initially discovered crenezumab, saw shares plummet 17.8% to 2.35.
Other tumbling stocks included Alector, INmune Bio, Prothena, Cortexyme and Anavax Life Sciences. With the exception of Cortexyme, which fell more than 10%, the stocks in this group each toppled less than 5% apiece.
Roche Stock: Targeting Beta Amyloid
Beta amyloid is a tricky target in Alzheimer's disease. It's unknown whether the protein causes the disease, or whether it's a downstream impact of the disease.
Biogen's Aduhelm has approval on the basis it can remove beta amyloid. But the approval is contingent upon further testing and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have restricted reimbursement for the drug.
So, in some ways, the crenezumab failure isn't a huge shock for Roche stock investors.
Roche began the study in 2013 in collaboration with Banner Alzheimer's Institute, the University of Antioquia in Colombia and the National Institute on Aging. They enrolled 252 patients in Colombia. About two-thirds carried a genetic mutation that causes cognitive impairment around age 44. Participants received crenezumab or a placebo over five to eight years.
No Significant Benefits For Patients
Roche hoped to prevent Alzheimer's disease for these patients. But crenezumab-treated patients didn't demonstrate statistically significant benefits on cognition or episodic memory function, Roche said in a news release. There were no new safety issues in the study.
Next, Roche plans to unveil the results of another Alzheimer's drug, gantenerumab, in the fourth quarter. The company hopes to prevent sporadic Alzheimer's disease and treat early disease.
Roche stock has trended down since mid-May and is now well off the record high it saw in April.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
