Japan's Otsuka to stop development of Alzheimer's disease drug

(Reuters) -Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical said on Wednesday it would stop developing an experimental drug to treat agitation and restlessness caused by symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The drug candidate, AVP-786, failed to show statistically significant improvement of agitation associated with Alzheimer's dementia in a late-stage study, Otsuka said.

Alzheimer's is a progressive brain disorder which causes a decline in memory, thinking, learning and organizing skills. The disease is the most common type of dementia.

Agitation associated with dementia has a large impact on the quality of life for the patients, and is reported in about half of all patients with Alzheimer's dementia, according to Otsuka.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical's parent Otsuka Holdings is mainly engaged in the medical and nutraceuticals related business.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)