The mid-stage disappointment in Alzheimer’s disease delivers another blow to Neuphoria Therapeutics, which in November last year was forced to launch a strategic business review after a Phase 3 trial in social anxiety disorder failed.
Merck has pulled the plug on a mid-stage study in Alzheimer’s disease—a move that compounds problems for its development partner Neuphoria Therapeutics.
The trial was discontinued for a “business reason,” according to a federal clinical trials database. A company spokesperson confirmed the termination in a statement to BioSpace on Thursday morning. A prespecified interim analysis of the trial showed that the investigational Alzheimer’s drug “did not meet the necessary efficacy criteria to warrant further investigation,” the spokesperson said. Merck’s partnership with Neuphoria “still stands.”
The decision to scrap the Alzheimer’s study wasn’t driven by safety concerns, the spokesperson said.
MK-1167 is a small-molecule asset positive allosteric modulator that targets the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, a protein thought to play a role in modulating the production of amyloid-beta, a key hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Merck first partnered with Neuphoria in 2014, when the biotech was still called Bionomics.
In February 2025, the companies pushed MK-1167 into mid-stage testing, triggering a $15 million milestone payment to Neuphoria. Then, in December, Merck presented early data demonstrating that a 6-mg dose increased glutamate metabolism in the brain of healthy men by 31% as compared with placebo. Abnormal glutamate metabolism has been closely tied to dementia.
For Neuphoria, MK-1167’s mid-stage fumble adds to its growing list of headaches. In October 2025, the biotech failed the Phase 3 AFFIRM-1 study in social anxiety disorder, with its investigational antinicotinic agent BNC210 failing to significantly improve self-reported measures of distress during a public speaking challenge.
The flop prompted Neuphoria to scrap its aspirations for BNC210 in the indication, though the company decided to push forward with the asset in post-traumatic stress disorder.
A few weeks later, Neuphoria announced that it had kicked off a sweeping business review, including assessing potential strategic alternatives to keep its pipeline moving forward. As part of this effort, an existing investor called Lynx1 Master Fund offered to acquire Neuphoria for $5.21 per share in cash.
That deal seems to have fizzled out after Lynx lowered its bid to $4.75 per share—a proposal that Neuphoria said in its news release “does not present an attractive value, and certainly not one that would compel the Board to consider abandoning its ongoing strategic review process.”
Neuphoria is currently being courted by Scancell Holdings about a possible company combination, according to an announcement last week.
