A Belgian court on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction preventing the European Commission from moving forward with approval of a treatment being developed by U.S. drug giant Biogen.
The drug, BAN2401, was due to be reviewed by the EU health agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in March, according to the Financial Times. The company’s chief executive, George Scangos, told the FT they would be meeting to review whether they will appeal the order of the court.
The treatment blocks the effects of a toxic form of protein which causes Alzheimer’s disease, according to news agencies. The European Medicines Agency awarded the company a fast-track designation for the drug in April, according to the FT.
“Biogen takes seriously today’s court decision that remains subject to appeal,” the company told the FT. “We look forward to presenting the totality of the scientific and business case for BAN2401 to the CHMP.”
A Reuters report added, however, that Biogen failed to win the limited 3-year placebo-controlled study.
The treatment is intended to improve memory and other cognitive functions in people who show early signs of the memory-robbing condition.
This is the second such setback for the treatment. In July 2017, a U.S. study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, failed to show the treatment led to better cognitive results in patients.