Roche's experimental drug for Parkinson's disease, prasinezumab, did not meet its primary objective in a mid-stage trial, according to the Swiss pharmaceutical company.

The drug did not significantly delay the progression of motor symptoms in early-stage Parkinson's patients, which is a setback for potential treatments for the neurodegenerative condition.

UCB also experienced a similar disappointment with its Parkinson's drug candidate, developed in collaboration with Novartis, falling short in clinical trials.

Despite the primary endpoint failure, Roche stated that prasinezumab showed potential clinical efficacy, with positive trends on several secondary trial goals and good tolerability among patients.

The company plans to further evaluate the data and work with health authorities to determine the next steps.

Roche's Chief Medical Officer, Levi Garraway, expressed confidence in the drug's potential, highlighting consistent efficacy trends observed in the Phase IIb study.

The latest trial involved a larger patient group of 586 and produced mixed results similar to a previous Roche mid-stage trial earlier this year.

Parkinson's disease affects nearly 1 million people in the U.S. and over 10 million globally, with various companies working on developing treatments that target the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein associated with the disease.