Teva’s Austedo drops out of 2024 blockbuster running on Tourette’s failure

Tourette’s syndrome, like most neurological conditions, has proven resistant to pharmacological intervention, so the failure of Teva’s attempt to extend Austedo into this disorder might not be wholly surprising – unless you are an equity analyst. The sellside had forecast 2024 Austedo revenues in Tourette’s of $175m, around 17% of the VMAT2 inhibitor’s total sales that year. But Artists 1, a phase II/III study, and the phase III Artists 2 have both failed to show a reduction in motor and phonic tics with Austedo over placebo in children with moderate to severe Tourette’s. Loss of the potential Tourette’s sales means that Austedo could miss the sellside's overall 2024 blockbuster forecasts. The twin trial misses also leave the pipeline for Tourette’s in a pretty dismal state. Data on Neurocrine’s VMAT2 inhibitor Ingrezza and Lundbeck’s Lu AG06466 should come this year, and on Otsuka’s antipsychotic Abilify, which already has Tourette's on its label, in 2021, but the omens for many are not good; no significant banks have yet been willing to assign sales for these drugs in Tourette’s.