Dive Brief:
- There is a great deal of excitment surrounding Eli Lilly's investigational Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug, solanezumab, which has the potential to become the first drug able to delay the progression of AD. In fact, Lilly's shares soared over the course of last week, ostensibly thanks to chatter over the data, (although it has since fallen a bit back down to earth).
- The data will be presented at the upcoming Alzheimer's Association meeting in Washingto D.C. The meeting dates are July 18th through the 23rd.
- The Alzheimer's Association is strongly considering embargoing the data until immediately before, or during, the conference, according to Reuters. It is customary to release data to participants several weeks before, unless the data is considered "late breaking."
Dive Insight:
A major concern is that the data will provide a basis for trading Lilly's stock, especially if the data is very good and bodes well for potential approval, ahead of a full release. Last week, Lilly's shares were up roughly 7% on anticipation of positive data.
Generally, for most meetings, including the American College of Cardiology (ACC), as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), meeting abstracts are published and available in advance of the meeting; however, there are situations where data is not available until the meeting. Often journalists have access to the data, but it is embargoed and not allowed to be released until a certain date.
While it's not clear whether the Alzheimer's Association will wait on this data, the chances are good that it will be treated as late breaking. BioPharma Dive will, of course, let you know everything you need to about the abstract once it's off embargo.