Leaders at AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly and Company recently stated that Amaranth, which is a phase II/III study concerning AZD3293 for early Alzheimer’s disease, is scheduled to continue according to plan.
AZD3293 is an oral potent small molecule beta secretase cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor. After the positive interim safety data, the study will progress into phase three of the research.
After completing a scheduled interim safety analysis, officials on the Amaranth independent data monitoring committee have encouraged the study to continue without any changes. The analysis was not meant to determine the effectiveness of the trial.
“Alzheimer’s disease remains one of the biggest challenges facing medical science today,” Menelas Pangalos, executive vice president of AstraZeneca's IMED Biotech Unit, said. “BACE inhibitors have the potential to target one of the key drivers of disease progression, and we are delighted that our combined efforts have resulted in the development of AZD3293 moving into the next phase of study. Disease-modifying approaches such as this have the potential to transform the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and help patients in this area of large unmet medical need.”
The goal of AZD3293 is to decrease the amyloid beta levels found within the cerebrospinal fluid of patients who have Alzheimer’s disease, as the illness is caused by amyloid plaque formations in the brain.
“This is an important and meaningful step forward on the path to better understand the Alzheimer’s puzzle,” Phyllis Ferrell, global development leader for Alzheimer’s disease at Lilly, said. “We’d like to thank the Amaranth participants and the trial investigators for taking part in this important study -- and thank our colleagues at AstraZeneca for their partnership.”
