J&J halts dengue drug trial after changes to R&D portfolio

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said it will halt a mid-stage field trial to assess the effectiveness of its experimental pill to prevent dengue fever after reprioritizing the drugmaker's communicable disease research and development portfolio.

No safety problems were identified, the company said on Friday.

Six out of 10 participants who took the drug mosnodenvir showed no detectable dengue virus in their blood after being injected with a type of dengue. This is according to data J&J submitted in October last year from another mid-stage study.

The drug blocks the action of two viral proteins, preventing the dengue virus from making copies of itself.

J&J said efficacy data from the field study will be available once final data analyzes are completed.

Although dengue fever is often asymptomatic, it is also known as “bone fracture fever” due to the severity of the joint pain and cramps some patients experience.

According to the World Health Organization, about half of the world's population is at risk of mosquito-borne dengue disease, with an estimated 100 to 400 million infections occurring each year.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)