Targacept: Drug missed goal due to analysis error

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

Drug developer Targacept Inc. said Tuesday that further analysis showed an experimental asthma treatment failed one one of its goals in a clinical trial, contrary to what the company previously reported.

Targacept shares lost 59 cents, or 12.2 percent, to $4.26 on Tuesday.

Targacept said it found an error in its statistical analysis. After correcting the error, it found that the drug, called TC-6987, met only one of its two goals in the four-week clinical study. The new analysis of the trial showed that patients who were treated with TC-6987 were able to expel more air than patients who took a placebo when their breathing ability was measured after their final dose of the drug. However the difference before the final dose of the drug on day 28 was not significant.

The company said it regretted not finding the error, but it said the study still accomplished its goal of demonstrating that class of Targacept drug candidates targeting neuronal nicotine receptors can be useful in treating conditions other than central nervous system disorders.

On March 27, Targacept said TC-6987 met its goals in the asthma study and failed in a study that tested the drug as a treatment for diabetes.