Targacept Gets Mixed Results on Drug Trials (TRGT, AZN)

Development stage drug maker Targacept Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is having its troubles these days. Earlier this month the company said it would not seek US Food and Drug Administration approval for its TC-5214 anti-depressant drug following a failed trial. AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) was Targacept’s partner on the development of TC-5214.

This morning the company announced that another development-stage drug, TC-6987, had failed an exploratory Phase 2 trial and that the company would no longer pursue approval for the drug as a treatment for diabetes. However the drug did meet its trial’s goals as an asthma drug, and Targacept’s CEO noted:

With the positive outcome in our TC-6987 asthma study, we have accomplished our goal of detecting in patients a signal of the potential of NNR [neuronal nicotinic receptors] Therapeutics in the treatment of disorders outside of the CNS, while at the same time further establishing a favorable safety and tolerability profile for this alpha7-selective NNR Therapeutic.

Targacept’s shares are down about -2.4% in early trading today, at $5.26 in a 52-week range of $4.90-$27.22.