Alzheimer's drug bapineuzumab fails late-stage trial, research dropped

Bapineuzumab, one of the drug-development industry's promising Alzheimer's disease treatments, failed in a late-stage trial, dealing another blow to the Alzheimer's community of patients, doctors and caregivers. The news came on the same day as researchers from the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco said they discovered an already-approved anti-epilepsy drug that may eventually be used by Alzheimer's patients. Until then, however, bapineuzumab's second failure in four Phase III studies deals Alzheimer's patients another in a long string of disappointments. Partners Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy R&D LLC said they would discontinue their research of intravenous bapineuzumab in patients in mild to moderate stages of the disease.