Phase 2

ALS
Misses from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis hopefuls Denali Therapeutics and partners AbbVie and Calico Life Sciences mark the latest setbacks for the controversial platform trial, the results from which have largely mirrored the dismal success rate in ALS overall.
Months after posting weight loss of 7.5% at 36 days for patients taking MET-097i, Metsera releases mid-stage results of just over 11% average body weight reduction at 12 weeks, with no plateau and a promising safety profile.
ALS
Denali’s failure on Monday continues biopharma’s losing streak against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PTC Therapeutics and Amylyx have seen similarly disappointing results.
Expanding volumes of data point to mechanisms beyond weight loss and blood sugar control that contribute to cardiovascular benefits in the world’s fastest-growing drug class.
High profile failures and long timeframes for revenue have shifted investment away from Phase I, as VCs seek to mitigate risk, Pitchbook said in its 2025 outlook.
Galectin’s shares tanked in premarket trading Friday after the biotech revealed its lead asset missed the primary endpoint for its Phase IIb/III trial for patients with a type of liver cirrhosis.
The report comes just two days after Novartis announced its own Parkinson’s drug failure.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ investigational non-opioid analgesic suzetrigine failed to outperform placebo. Investors voiced their concerns as the company’s share price fell 13% in premarket trading.
Some 90% of investigational drugs fail—and success rates are even more dire in the neuro space. Here, BioSpace looks at five clinical trial flops that stole headlines over the past 12 months.
Incyte is abandoning its ALK2 blocker zilurgisertib, which it was trialing for myelofibrosis-associated anemia, while iTeos will deprioritize the development of inupadenant after it failed to meet the biotech’s clinical bar in a Phase II study of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
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