Benzinga | Jun 17, 2021 06:54AM EDT

Biogen Discontinues Tau Antibody Program For Alzheimer's After Mid-Stage Study Flops

* Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) has four other Alzheimer's candidates in its clinical pipeline behind recently-approved Aduhelm, of which one has just been canned.

* The biotech says that gosuranemab, the second leading drug target in Alzheimer's, flat failed its Phase 2 and will now be taken out and dumped.

* The decision comes after the Phase 2 TANGO study of gosuranemab (BIIB092) that showed that the antibody could not show a benefit on cognition symptoms in patients with mild Alzheimer's, despite being effective at clearing tau out of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.

* Tau is a protein found in cells of the central nervous system and is involved in the assembly and stabilization of neuronal microtubules, channels used to transport substances to different parts of the nerve cell.

* Analyses of additional data, including CSF biomarkers, are ongoing, and Biogen plans to present these results at an upcoming medical congress.

* Meanwhile, the failure of gosuranemab is the latest in a string of pipeline disappointments for Biogen, which in the last few days reported negative trial results for second gene therapy for an inherited retinal disease and some worrying Phase 3 data for Sage Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SAGE)-partnered antidepressant zuranolone.

* Price Action: BIIB shares closed at $391.31 on Wednesday.