In light of another setback in the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) drug development field, with the failure of Roche and AC Immune’s antitau antibody, all eyes will be on results for vTv Therapeutics’ azeliragon for AD and type 2 diabetes;

William Newton, Pharma Writer for the Investigative News team at GlobalData, offers his view:

“Although azeliragon failed a Phase III trial for AD, there is still the potential for success in the Phase II trial, with caveats remaining.

“There has been a long history of unsuccessful therapeutic attempts to target mild-to-severe AD, but a Phase III posthoc analysis indicated that HbA1c (haemoglobin) levels associated with diabetes could be a plausible surrogate marker for azeliragon’s effect on patients with mild AD.

“That said, while there is confidence in the Phase II clinical trial endpoints and their timeframes, there is no proven causal relationship between azeliragon’s mode of action and AD or diabetes.”

In response, a vTv spokesperson interviews by GlobalData, said: “The posthoc analyses suggest that azeliragon may potentially be effective for the treatment of patients with mild AD and diabetes.”