Merck drug fails to slow Alzheimer's symptoms

"This work suggests that targeting this hormone system may not be an effective approach to slowing the rate of Alzheimer's disease progression," said study leader Dr. Jeff Sevigny of Merck Research Laboratories in North Wales, Pennsylvania, in a statement. 

While the drug succeeded in boosting levels of IGF-1 by 73 percent after a year, it failed to keep the disease from advancing. "This compound showed no clinical benefit in the population we studied," Sevigny said in a telephone interview.

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - An experimental Merck & Co Inc drug that raises levels of a natural growth hormone failed to improve memory skills in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The compound, called MK-677, stimulates the release of insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1, which has been shown in mice to reduce levels of beta amyloid protein that forms sticky plaques in the brain.

Merck spokesman Ian McConnell said the company has discontinued research on the drug in Alzheimer's disease, but studies in other conditions are still under way.

These plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, a progressive disease marked by memory loss, confusion and eventually, the inability to care for oneself.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, was designed to test whether age-related declines in levels of IGF-1 drive the accumulation of amyloid beta in Alzheimer's patients, and if restoring IGF-1 might help slow progression of the disease.

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