Newron's Merck KGaA-in licensed compound fails Rett Syndrome study, shares wilt
Mutations in a gene called MECP2 were identified as the cause of Rett Syndrome in 1999 inside a laboratory at the Baylor College of Medicine — the same year, Italian drug developer Newron Pharmaceuticals was born. On Monday, the company’s experimental drug, sarizotan, failed a Phase II/III study in patients with the severe neurodevelopmental disorder that has no approved therapies.
In-licensed from Merck KGaA, the compound is designed to modulate the activity of neurotransmitters and was abandoned by the German drugmaker in 2006 after a pair of failed pivotal studies in Parkinson’s disease. Now, Newron is also terminating its developmental program in Rett syndrome.
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