Experimental drug doesn’t slow disease
Pfizer Inc. said Monday that a closely watched experimental Alzheimer’s drug failed to slow the disease in one late-stage study, but the drug maker said it will continue to study the drug’s effect on a different group of patients.
Pfizer, which is testing bapineuzumab with partner Johnson & Johnson, said the injected drug didn’t slow mental or functional decline in patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The study included patients who carry a gene called ApoE4, which gives people a higher risk of developing the memory-robbing disorder.
About half the population does not carry that gene, however, and Pfizer says a study of the drug in patients without the gene is continuing. Results of that study are expected to be announced later this summer.
