Targacept's TC-6987 Shows Promise in Asthma But Not Diabetes

TC-6987 has shown promise as a treatment for asthma but Targacept will no longer be developing it as a diabetes therapy.

Targacept Inc has announced top-line results from two exploratory phase-II clinical trials involving its alpha7 NNR modulator TC-6987.

The biopharmaceutical company's oral product candidate was tested in both asthma and type-2 diabetes.

TC-6987 was found to meet its primary endpoints in the asthma study, which was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 93 adults with mild to moderate asthma.

Participants completed a four-week washout period, before taking oral TC-6987 or a placebo once a day for four weeks, alongside a low-dose inhaled corticosteroid.

Dr James Donohue, professor of medicine at the