Both AstraZeneca and Novartis announced that drugs they had for depression and hypertension that were in the late stages of development have failed, reports Bloomberg, adding that AstraZeneca's drugs turned out to be disappointing while Novartis's tests on Tekturna were halted due to safety concerns. Further, Sanofi's multiple sclerosis drug, Aubagio, has not performed better than an older therapy.
"The bad results emerged at the same time, but Novartis has been at the top of the leader board for drug launches over the past decade, while AstraZeneca lies more toward the bottom," Gbola Amusa, an analyst at UBS AG, tells Bloomberg. And except for an injectable MS drug at Safnoi "and perhaps one or two other drugs, there isn't a lot else that's cause for excitement in that pipeline."