Merck Discontinues APECS Study On Verubecestat Following EDMC Recommendation

(RTTNews) - Merck (MRK) announced that it will be stopping protocol 019, also known as the APECS study, following a recommendation by the external Data Monitoring Committee (eDMC), that it was unlikely that positive benefit/risk could be established if the trial continued.

The Phase 3 study evaluated verubecestat (MK-8931), an investigational small molecule inhibitor of the beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), in people with prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The company plans to present the data from the APECS study at an upcoming medical meeting.

Roger Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories, stated, "We are disappointed with this outcome, especially given the lack of treatment options for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease,"