Myriad follow-on study of Flurizan demonstrates continued benefit in Alzheimer's disease

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, March 13 - Myriad Genetics, Inc. announced Sunday that data from its phase 2 follow-on study of Flurizan in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease showed that study participants on 800 mg of Flurizan twice daily continued to demonstrate increasing benefit through the 21st month in cognition and memory loss and maintained more of their global function and activities of daily living than those on 400 mg twice daily or a placebo.

These data were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry in Salt Lake City, according to a company news release.

The data suggest that during the follow-on period from months 12 to 21, the benefit of Flurizan on the measures of Alzheimer's disease increases in terms of both effect size and significance, the longer patients remain on Flurizan, officials said.

The efficacy of Flurizan in the first 12 months of the study was measured as the difference between the rates of decline, or slopes, of the treated groups and the placebo group.

As measured by the performance of activities of daily living by patients taking the 800 mg dose, there was a 52% effect size compared with the projected slope of the placebo at 21 months. In terms of the patient's global function at 21 months, the scale showed a 75% effect size, also significant, officials said.

These data suggest that there is a substantial benefit from Flurizan on activities of daily living and global function, and that the benefit is increasing over time, officials said.

"The 21 months of data give us further confidence in the power of our phase 3 trial to demonstrate a benefit from Flurizan for Alzheimer's patients," Adrian Hobden, president of Myriad, said in the release. "The results are additional evidence that Flurizan appears to be modifying the course of the underlying disease process."

Myriad said it is enrolling patients with mild Alzheimer's disease for a phase 3 trial at 130 centers across the United States. Enrollment of the double blind, placebo-controlled trial is proceeding on schedule, officials said.

The study is designed to determine Flurizan's ability to reduce the rate of cognitive decline and activities of daily living in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

Flurizan is the first in a new class of drug candidates known as Selective Amyloid beta-42 lowering agents (SALAs). Flurizan lowered levels of Abeta42 in cellular assays and animal models. Abeta42 is the primary constituent of senile plaque that accumulates in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Myriad said it believes that Flurizan is the most advanced drug candidate that inhibits the production of Abeta42 to be evaluated in a clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Myriad is a Salt Lake City biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and marketing of novel health care products. The company develops and markets predictive medicine products and is developing and intends to market therapeutic products.

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