Servier’s $1.55 billion muscular dystrophy drug fails major test

The French pharma Servier stated Tuesday that an experimental drug it bought in June for $1.55 billion in money, plus about $1 billion extra in potential milestones, didn’t gradual a uncommon type of muscular dystrophy in a protracted placebo-controlled trial.

It’s a stunning setback for each Servier and the sufferers with Becker muscular dystrophy, who at present haven’t any authorised therapies. The drug, known as sevasemten and initially developed by Edgewise Therapeutics, had beforehand proven promising ends in a smaller, randomized examine.

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“The outcomes of the pivotal GRAND CANYON examine are usually not aligned with sure findings noticed in prior medical research,” Servier stated in a press release, utilizing the corporate’s identify for the Part 3 trial. “Servier is conducting a complete evaluation of the GRAND CANYON examine dataset, along with related prior medical knowledge, to raised perceive and additional characterize the examine findings.”