Myriad says follow-on phase 2 study shows Flurizan improves cognitive ability in Alzheimer's patients

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Nov. 15 - Myriad Genetics, Inc. said Tuesday that an analysis of data from its phase 2 follow-on study of Flurizan in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease showed that patients improved as a group, regaining cognitive ability from month 12 to month 18.

The phase 2 trial monitored Alzheimer's patients for 12 months. At the end of the 12-month period, the group of patients taking 800 mg of Flurizan twice daily showed an average decline of 2.64 points from their baseline score at enrollment, as measured by the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Function Subscale, according to a company news release.

In contrast, officials said the placebo group experienced a 3.78 point decline over the same 12 months.

In the follow on to the phase 2 study, patients on Flurizan for three additional months regained 0.38 points to 2.27, an improvement of 14%. By 18 months, the average score had further improved to 1.78 points, a total gain in cognition of 0.86 points. These data demonstrate an increase in cognition upon continued treatment that amounted to a 33% improvement over the follow-on period, officials said.

"The 18-month follow-on data are striking in that Flurizan-treated patients appear to be regaining cognitive functions like memory and thinking ability that they had previously lost to the disease," Daniel Christensen, clinical professor of neurology, psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Utah, said in the release.

"This is a truly exciting finding in the development of a potential future treatment of Alzheimer's disease," he said.

The data was presented Tuesday at the Neuroscience 2005 meeting in Washington, D.C.

Based on the positive phase 2 results, the company now is enrolling patients with mild Alzheimer's disease for a phase 3 trial at 130 centers across the United States.

Myriad is a Salt Lake City biopharmaceutical company focused on development and marketing of health care products.

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