Biovail's Parkinson drug hits snag

Biovail Corp. says it's "disappointed" with the results from a clinical trial of a potential drug for patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis.

The drug was intended to treat the visual hallucinations and delusions experienced by about 40 per cent of the people with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that causes muscle tremors and shaking.

The Toronto-area pharmaceutical company said Tuesday a Phase 3 trial didn't find statistically significant improvements for patients who were given pimavanserin, compared with patients who didn't receive the treatment.

A total of 298 patients were enrolled in the trial. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group received placebos with no active treatment and the other two groups received different-sized doses of the developmental drug.

Biovail says patients who received pimavanserin were able to tolerate the drug but neither group that received the treatment had a statistically better outcome on a key measure compared with the placebo group.

The company says it will review the data and decide its next course of action over the coming weeks.