Major Clinical Trial Failures of 2024: Setbacks in Neuroscience and Beyond

AbbVie's emraclidine failed in two Phase II trials for schizophrenia, missing the primary endpoint in both studies1.

Sage Therapeutics' dalzanemdor experienced a triple failure in trials for Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease1.

Pfizer's gene therapy fordadistrogene movaparvovec for Duchenne muscular dystrophy failed to show significant improvement in motor function in a Phase III trial1 2.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals' ALS drug Relyvrio failed a post-approval Phase III trial, leading to its withdrawal from the market3 7.

Cassava Sciences' Alzheimer's drug simufilam failed to show benefits in a Phase III study, effectively ending its development program7 8.

Merck KGaA's evobrutinib for multiple sclerosis failed two Phase III trials, performing no better than the control drug3.

Several trials in oncology faced setbacks, including Merck's Keytruda + Lynparza combination for lung cancer9.

The neuroscience field saw particularly high failure rates, with approximately 85% of Phase II and III trials for central nervous system drugs failing1 4.

These failures highlight the challenges in drug development, especially in complex areas like neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders4.

Despite these setbacks, the biopharmaceutical industry continues to pursue new treatments, with over 100 companies still working on ALS therapies3.