Biogen’s new data, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, supports a tau-focused approach to the intractable neurodegenerative disease; psychedelics are back in the news with more positive data from Compass Pathways and final guidance from the FDA; and the ATTR-CM space got a major shakeup with the late-stage failure of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ antisense therapeutic.
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At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, which kicked off in London on Sunday, Biogen stole the show with new data for its Ionis Pharmaceuticals–partnered anti-tau candidate diranersen. The Phase 2 trial missed the dose-related endpoint but provided “unprecedented” reductions in total tau in the cerebrospinal fluid as well as brain tau pathology, according to Szofia Bullain, vice president of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Clinical Development at Biogen.
Still on the Alzheimer’s front, Biogen also announced FDA approval of a subcutaneous formulation of its Eisai-partnered Leqembi for initial doses, meaning the anti-amyloid antibody can now be given fully at home, differentiating it from Eli Lilly’s Kisunla.
In the psychedelics space, Compass Pathways released more positive data for its psilocybin-based asset COMP360, which elicited a clinically meaningful reduction in depression severity by six weeks of treatment in a late-stage trial. The data will support the company’s ongoing rolling submission for approval. It also adds to momentum in the space, after Definium Therapeutics announced promising results for its LSD-based treatment for major depressive disorder. Additionally, the FDA issued final guidance for psychedelics developers that highlight the agency’s support of the novel drug class.
In transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), the news was less positive this week, with Ionis and AstraZeneca reporting that their antisense therapeutic Wainua flopped in a Phase 3 study. The unexpected failure sent waves through the ATTR-CM space, with complicated implications for Alnylam and more positive readthroughs for BridgeBio and Intellia Therapeutics.
In other bad news for Ionis, Roche ended two trials that were partnered with the biotech for an anti-sense oligonucleotide (ASO) for Huntington’s disease. That development could bode well for Wave Life Sciences, however, which is developing a more selective ASO that targets only mutant huntingtin while preserving the wild-type form, which is understood to be neuroprotective.
Plus, check out BioSpace’s Q2 2026 job market update.
