AC Immune claims a tau win in Alzheimer’s

These days mixed data in Alzheimer’s disease are enough to send a company’s stock rocketing. Today, AC Immune was the beneficiary after claiming a win in the phase 2 Lauriet trial of its tau-targeting agent semorinemab.

A closer look shows that the results are far from convincing. The placebo-controlled study, in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s patients, hit one primary endpoint but failed the other, and also missed its secondary efficacy endpoints. Perhaps this is enough to warrant further investigation, but pushing straight into a large phase 3 trial might be a rash move.