Shares in Elan fell 11 per cent this morning to €45.00 after it announced it had suspended clinical trials of its Alzheimer’s drug.
Elan and American Home Products have temporarily suspended joint clinical trials of the Alzheimer’s drug AN-1792 after four patients in France were reported to have clinical signs consistent with inflammation in the central nervous system.
All four patients are receiving appropriate medical care and the companies are working with clinical investigators to determine the cause of this development.
Elan and AHP are conducting clinical trials in the US and four European countries in patients with Alzheimer's disease using AN-1792 (also known as AIP-001). To date, approximately 360 patients have received multiple doses of AN-1792.
In the Phase 2A study, 97 patients in France have received the drug. The four reported cases of central nervous system inflammation were in patients receiving AN-1792.
There are many causes of inflammation of the central nervous system, one being a viral infection. The presence of virus within the cerebrospinal fluid was reported in some of the four patients under investigation. However, the cause of the inflammation remains to be determined, the companies said.