J&J Cuts 130 Jobs After Alzheimer Drug Fails

This was expected, yes? Two months after reporting that a pair of clinical trials testing an Alzheimer's compound failed to meet primary endpoints, Johnson & Johnson is eliminating about 130 positions, mostly from its

Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy office in South San Francisco, California, according to a state notice.

In an e-mail, a spokeswoman confirms that the "restructuring" and job cuts are due to the "negative clinical trial results announced in August of the bapineuzumab Phase III studies and the decision to discontinue development of bapineuzumab in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease." The state notice lists 119 jobs to be eliminated from that office. At the moment, the unit employs about 200 people and also has a facility in Dublin, Ireland.

The job cuts are hardly unexpected in light of the decision to halt clinical work, except for follow-up evaluations and final data analyses. In fact, preliminary results reported in 2008 suggested little room for optimism (see this), although many patients and investors held out hope that the compound would offer a pleasant surprise, despite the odds.

But the topline results from a study in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease who do not carry the ApoE4 genotype failed to meet the co-primary clinical endpoints – a change in cognitive and functional performance compared to placebo. An earlier study, which also failed, involved patients who do carry the ApoE4 genotype (read here and here).

Bapineuzumab was originally developed by Elan and Wyeth, but J&J (JNJ) got involved as part of a deal to acquire several compounds from Elan three years ago, about the same time that Pfizer purchased Wyeth. The Alzheimer's Immunotherapy Program is a collaboration between J&J's Janssen unit and Pfizer (PFE).

axe pic thx to brittgow on flickr

11 Comments

Oct 24, 2012 - 8:52am
The Lilly anti beta amyloid drug will be the next one to bite the dust. Then it won't be 130 jobs. It will crying time in Indianapolis.
Oct 24, 2012 - 11:56am
@oii - right, so fire everyone who has the history of what doesn't work without giving them a chance to leverage that knowledge into something that does work...
Oct 24, 2012 - 12:18pm
Typical, and the wonks wonder why there is no loyalty. Anyone who works for these big corporations needs to "take them to the bank" whenever they are given a chance. Employees, even highly educated are just walking meat to the suits that hire them.
Oct 24, 2012 - 12:42pm
The employees should be taking the suits to the hookow for not shutting the study down earlier based on the data.

Get it?

Oct 24, 2012 - 2:41pm
Here's a shot of the italianate marble inlay floor at the Lilly corporate center. Wonder what they will do with that expensive masonry when that company bites the dust.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=picture+of+lilly+corporate+center&view=detail&id=162587CA96F0B90894FA23820C01B93446DD972A&first=1

This is really disappointing news. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and this disease is so terrible. She was the head in her class during college, and she knew so many different things. My grandfather had to watch as this illness stripped all of that away from her little by little until there was only a shadow of what used to be. I know that there is a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, and now I am worried for my dad and his brother and sister. I had put a lot of hope into bapineuzumab.
Oct 25, 2012 - 7:30pm
Steve, I feel for your situation, but if there are lessons learned from this study I would not waste my time running out and getting tested for the apoE4 allele. While there may be heightened risk in E4 positive patients, these studies show that the E4 allele patients fare no better or worse with treatment than E4 negative patients with AZ. You'll give yourself needless worry, and perhaps make some poor decisions as a result, but in the end it's your choice as to whether to get tested.
Job cuts everywhere. Everyone wants small businesses to be started or for everyone to be homeless. That's all there is to it.
Nov 5, 2012 - 8:16pm
Of course Sandra, we want EVERYONE to lose their jobs so they won't be able to afford their meds. If that's the single thought in your brain it will likely die of loneliness.
I feel for Steve's situation too, I think that it is a shame that this drug did not see more success in its clinical trials. I too have had a member of my family who was diagnosed and eventually succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. I have heard tell that there is a proclamation of sorts to cure this disease before 2030 or around that time. I am hoping that we can stick to that mark.
I have heard the same, but unfortunately I have not seen any solid evidence that this will be the case. When my grandmother was diagnosed back in 2000, there were a number of drugs that they were able to prescribe to try and slow the progression of the her Alzheimer's. In the almost fifteen years since, we do now have better methods of diagnosing changes in the brain that could point to Alzheimer's disease. So, it could be that we are moving in the right direction despite these set backs.