The real lesson from Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug trial failure

New York

THE most anticipated pharma news of 2016 lived down to expectations. Following in the footsteps of nearly every other company that has sought to treat Alzheimer's disease, Eli Lilly announced last Wednesday that its Alzheimer's drug solanuzemab (sola) failed a huge Phase 3 clinical trial, sending shares down 10.5 per cent.

Much of the post mortem will likely focus on the beta amyloid holy war - a battle between those who believe Alzheimer's is caused by the buildup of a particular type of plaque in the brain, and those who don't. Sola is the latest in a string of failures of drugs targeting this plaque. Biogen has another such drug in development, and its shares fell 4 per cent last Wednesday.