Novartis Stops Late-Stage Trial for Key Drug in Rare Neuromuscular Disease
By Adria Calatayud
Novartis said it stopped a late-stage clinical trial for its remibrutinib drug in a rare neuromuscular disease due to lack of efficacy, but executives said the medicine could still become the biggest in the company's history.
The Swiss drugmaker disclosed the discontinuation of the remibrutinib study in generalized myasthenia gravis alongside its third-quarter results on Tuesday, saying there was no impact on continuing trials in other conditions.
The decision followed an analysis that indicated the treatment was unlikely to meet its efficacy objectives, Novartis said. No safety concerns were identified, it added.
The analysis showed remibrutinib wouldn't be significantly better than the current standard therapy, Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said during a call with reporters.
Remibrutinib still has potential to become the largest medicine in Novartis's history, Narasimhan said.
The company last week said the medicine helped deliver comprehensive disease control in two late-stage trials with patients with the most common form of multiple sclerosis. The medicine is already approved as Rhapsido for the treatment of chronic hives, or chronic spontaneous urticaria, and is also being studied for skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa as well as food allergy.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2026 10:06 ET (14:06 GMT)
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