Biogen and Denali Therapeutics have announced that they will be discontinuing the development of their early-stage Parkinson’s disease drug, BIIB122, in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, based on the results of the phase 2b LUMA trial.
BIIB122 is an investigational small molecule inhibitor of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2). In the LUMA study, it failed to meet the primary endpoint of slowing the progression of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease compared to a placebo, demonstrated by time to confirmed worsening using the modified Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part II and III combined score. The drug also failed to meet any of the secondary endpoints.
However, BIIB122 did have an acceptable safety profile and was generally well tolerated. Denali (independently of Biogen) will continue to conduct its Phase 2a BEACON study evaluating the drug in carriers of the pathogenic LRRK2 variant, a smaller subset of the Parkinson’s population.