Warner-Lambert's Cognex Alzheimer Benefit Limited, Study Says
Bloomberg News
November 24, 1998, 5:12 p.m. ET
Warner-Lambert's Cognex Alzheimer Benefit Limited, Study Says
Chicago, Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-Lambert Co.'s Cognex,
the first drug widely sold for Alzheimer's disease, can slow
mental deterioration for about three months, although it doesn't
significantly affect behavior problems or improve independence, a
new study shows.
The relevance of Cognex's benefits, and perhaps other drugs
like it, remain controversial, with longer-term studies involving
many more patients urgently needed, the researchers said. About
one in 20 people older than 65 have some degree of Alzheimer's
disease, a progressive condition in which nerve cells in the
brain deteriorate causing memory loss, disorientation, and death.
Experts have long questioned the amount of benefit from
Cognex, which slows the breakdown of a brain chemical that plays
an important role in memory and cognition and is deficient in
Alzheimer's patients. Although approved in the U.S. in 1993,
several other countries refused to allow it on the market.
Dr. Nawab Qizilbash, formerly from the University of Oxford
in England and now an employee of SmithKline Beecham Plc, and his
colleagues reviewed data from 12 clinical trials of Cognex in
1,284 patients. Patients taking Cognex were about 50 percent more
likely to improve than those on placebo, with men more likely to
benefit than women, the researchers found.
However, about one in every five patients started on the
drug in clinical trials dropped out because of side effects,
including liver problems, the researchers said.
The study appears in tomorrow's Journal of the American
Medical Association. While the study wasn't directly supported by
Warner-Lambert, several researchers received funding or grants
from the company's Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals unit.
Warner-Lambert shares fell 2 7/8 to 78 3/8 today.
Forest Laboratories Inc. earlier this month said the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration turned down its marketing
application for Synapton, in the same drug class as Cognex for
treating Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, SmithKline Beecham
dropped its Alzheimer's drug Memric from late-stage development
last spring, while Bayer AG, Hoechst AG, and Novartis AG also
experienced recent setbacks with their treatments.
--Michelle Fay Cortez in Ithaca, New York (607) 272-1174, |
