AstraZeneca and Targacept Announce Top-Line Results from Phase IIb Study of AZD3480 in Cognitive Dysfunction in Sch...(ion agreement AstraZeneca has agreed to ...),Health

"We are obviously disappointed that AZD3480 did not meet our goals in the HALO trial," commented J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Targacept. "We thank AstraZeneca for its commitment to AZD3480 and its investment in this pioneering work in an emerging area considered to be critical in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. We look forward to continuing our cognition-focused collaboration with AstraZeneca."

Study Design

The Phase IIb HALO trial was conducted by AstraZeneca under the terms of an exclusive global license and research collaboration agreement. The trial was a multi-center, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, dose-finding study conducted at approximately 70 enrolling sites in the United States and Canada. Subjects (n = 445) between 18 and 55 years of age who were active smokers and taking medication from the class of drugs known as atypical anti-psychotics were randomly assigned to one of three dose groups of AZD3480 or to placebo and dosed over a 12-week period. The primary outcome measures of the trial were change from baseline after 12 weeks on various domains of cognition as measured by the IntegNeuro computerized test battery(1).

About Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling form of psychosis that, in addition to symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations, is often marked by impairments in cognitive functions such as attention, vigilance, memory and reasoning. These cognitive impairments play a primary role in the inability of schizophrenic patients to function normally. It has been estimated that there are 7.9 million schizophrenic patients in the world's seven major pharmaceutical markets and that the majority of all schizophrenic patients are
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