Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has opted to halt development of its memory improvement therapy after the drug flunked a Phase II trial. LX6171 was studied in subjects with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). Lexicon reported that while the compound was well tolerated, the drug showed no activity in the cognitive domains studied.
"Even though there were isolated instances of activity in the recently-completed Phase 2a study, we believe that the aggregate data do not support further development of LX6171 for cognitive impairment at this time,'' said Philip M. Brown, senior vice president of clinical development at Lexicon. "However, the target of LX6171 continues to be intriguing, as this pathway has recently been associated with schizophrenia in human genetic studies. LX6171, which has demonstrated a favorable safety profile in studies conducted to date, has not been tested in that indication.''
Lexicon said it will "evaluate interest from third parties" for LX6171 in other neurobehavioral indications, including schizophrenia. The company will now focus its resources on its four other ongoing drug development programs.
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