Promising Alzheimer's Med Shown To Worsen Symptoms

Development halted after trials show semagacestat impairs cognition

NEW YORK — Eli Lilly and Co is halting development of one of its experimental late-stage Alzheimer's disease treatments after preliminary results from large studies showed the drug was linked to worsening of cognition and the ability to perform daily tasks.

The halting of the development of semagacestat, announced by Lilly on Tuesday, is a serious blow to the drugmaker as well as to efforts to combat the degenerative aging disease, for which the development of effective treatments has proved elusive. Lilly shares fell more than 2 percent in premarket trading after the announcement.

The preliminary results stemmed from two ongoing long-term Phase III studies, in which semagacestat was compared with placebo in more than 2,600 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

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