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UCB and Biogen Idec announced today the discontinuation of the phase II clinical trial of CDP323 for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS).
Preliminary interim efficacy analysis showed that patients enrolled in this clinical trial did not benefit as expected from CDP323 compared to placebo after a six month treatment period. No cases of PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy) were noted.
CDP323 is an oral small molecule alpha4 integrin inhibitor that was being developed by UCB and Biogen Idec for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.
For UCB, results of this interim analysis trigger a re-valuation of the intangible asset “CDP323”. UCB expects a non-cash, non-recurring impairment of a high double-digit million pre-tax euro amount. This will be more than compensated by cash, non-recurring capital gains, which resulted from the divestitures UCB made earlier this year. More information on the financial impacts of both the impairment and the capital gains will be included in the Half Year Report 2009 of UCB, due July 31, 2009.
