Updated
Updated · en.hdbuzz.net · Jul 9
Roche Halts 2 Huntington’s Drug Programs After Tominersen Misses Key Endpoint
Updated
Updated · en.hdbuzz.net · Jul 9

Roche Halts 2 Huntington’s Drug Programs After Tominersen Misses Key Endpoint

1 articles · Updated · en.hdbuzz.net · Jul 9

Summary

  • Roche ended the GENERATION HD2 and POINT-HD Huntington’s programs after tominersen failed to improve clinical outcomes and RG6496 was deemed unfit for long-term use.
  • In the Phase II tominersen trial, patients showed lower mutant huntingtin and neurofilament light levels, but the drug did not beat placebo on disease-progression measures including cUHDRS and TFC at 16 months.
  • Roche said neither shutdown was driven by participant safety: tominersen raised no new safety concerns, while only 3 people had received a single RG6496 dose before animal studies undermined repeated dosing plans.
  • The company said the decisions were unrelated and stressed the results do not settle whether huntingtin lowering can work, with fuller data still to come at future scientific meetings.
  • More than 1,500 families have participated in Roche’s Huntington’s programs over the past decade, and Roche said its RG6662 gene-therapy program will continue unchanged.

Insights

With Roche’s setback, which rival's radical new approach could now conquer this devastating brain disease?
A drug fixed the biology of Huntington's but not the patient. Is the entire treatment theory wrong?