
Merck pulled the plug on a closely watched trial in Alzheimer’s disease after finding out its in-development drug had no effect on patients with mild forms of the disorder.
The drug, verubecestat, showed “virtually no chance” of meeting its goal in a 2,200-patient study, Merck said. The trial was meant to read out later this year, but Merck, on the advice of its independent data monitors, pulled the plug early.