Roche pulls support for experimental psoriasis treatment BCX-4208

Roche is "terminating an agreement to develop BCX-4208 to treat psoriasis," according to its partner in the program, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. BioCryst will retain rights to the experimental treatment, and is committed to continuing to try to develop it.

Roche's decision came after its review of results from a Phase IIa clinical trial of BCX-4208 involving 66 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. While it showed that "BCX-4208 was safe and well-tolerated, clinical efficacy was not demonstrated," BioCryst said.

Roche spokeswoman Kim Cayz said the company is looking for a drug that stands out from current treatments and believed the work on BCX-4208 was not going in that direction.

Roche has apparently spent about $30 million on BCX-4208. (It is not clear how much BioCryst has spent on it so far.) Just another reminder that even though name-brand drug prices seem too high, there are many failures along the way that burn through a lot of money (although it is the Phase Three testing where the biggest dollars are consumed).

But for those hoping for additional breakthroughs for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, there are many other products in the pipeline.