Misses from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis hopefuls Denali Therapeutics and partners AbbVie and Calico Life Sciences mark the latest setbacks for the controversial platform trial, the results from which have largely mirrored the dismal success rate in the ALS space overall.

Denali’s medicine and a similar one from Calico Life Sciences and AbbVie were not much different than a placebo, bringing the tally of failed drugs in the innovative “Healey platform trial” to seven.

The result is another major disappointment to ALS patients, who have limited drug treatment options at present, particularly after one FDA-approved therapy – Amylyx's Relyvrio/Albrioza (sodium phenylbutyrate/taurursodiol) – was pulled from the market.

Denali’s failure on Monday continues biopharma’s losing streak against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PTC Therapeutics and Amylyx have seen similarly disappointing results.