--- title: 'Clinical Daily Summary: What Happened on October 12, 2026' headline: AstraZeneca’s HICKORY trial misses its primary endpoint description: The day also brought completed enrollment in a gene-therapy study, exploratory psoriasis biomarker findings and data on breast cancer care delays. url: https://thebench.bio/news/clinical/2026-10-12 topic: clinical date: '2026-10-12' covers: - '2026-10-12' date_published: '2026-10-12T12:01:56Z' date_modified: '2026-10-12T12:01:56Z' tags: - Clinical - Industry sources: 4 publisher: TheBench.Bio --- # Clinical Daily Summary: What Happened on October 12, 2026 **AstraZeneca’s HICKORY trial misses its primary endpoint** The day also brought completed enrollment in a gene-therapy study, exploratory psoriasis biomarker findings and data on breast cancer care delays. ## Today in brief AstraZeneca’s efzimfotase alfa failed to beat placebo on the primary walking-test measure in a Phase III hypophosphatasia trial, though some secondary analyses favored the drug. [1] Perceive Bio finished enrolling 47 participants in its geographic atrophy gene-therapy study. Eli Lilly found wider biomarker shifts with Taltz plus Zepbound than with Taltz alone. [2] [3] Among 1,071 women diagnosed with breast cancer by age 40, lower-income participants and the youngest women were more likely to face care delays. [4] ## AstraZeneca’s efzimfotase alfa misses HICKORY’s primary endpoint AstraZeneca’s Phase III HICKORY trial of efzimfotase alfa missed its primary endpoint in adults and adolescents with hypophosphatasia who had not previously received Strensiq. [1] After 25 weeks, participants on the drug improved by 17.05 meters on the six-minute walk test, while those on placebo improved more. [1] In a post-hoc analysis, 45.2% of participants taking efzimfotase alfa reached the threshold for a clinically meaningful walking improvement, compared with more than 30% on placebo. [1] AstraZeneca said the placebo group performed better than expected. [1] Participants taking efzimfotase alfa also reported greater improvement in fatigue. Combined subgroups with childhood-onset disease showed nominal walking-test benefits. [1] AstraZeneca said it would continue efforts to make efzimfotase alfa available to people with hypophosphatasia. [1] ## Also worth knowing - Perceive Bio completed enrollment in its open-label Phase IIa JOURNEY study of VOY-101, with 94 eyes from 47 participants, above its original target of 62 eyes. The company expects topline results at 15 months in late 2027. [2] - At week 36, the combination arm showed changes across 482 proteins and 467 genes. Taltz alone showed changes across 140 proteins and 16 genes in the exploratory Phase IIIb analysis. [3] - Among 1,071 women diagnosed with breast cancer by age 40, researchers recorded presentation delays in 153, diagnostic delays in 120 and treatment delays in 228. Lower-income participants were more likely to delay seeking care, while delays were not independently linked to disease-free or overall survival. [4] ## The day in numbers - **17.05 meters**: Mean improvement on the six-minute walk test with efzimfotase alfa after 25 weeks, less than the placebo group’s improvement. [1] - **94 eyes**: Enrollment in Perceive Bio’s JOURNEY study, above its original target of 62 eyes. [2] - **482 proteins**: Proteins with changes at week 36 in the Taltz-Zepbound arm, versus 140 with Taltz alone. [3] ## Also published - [MSD data reveal undercuts eye drug remigromig's potential](), pharmaphorum - [Lilly's Zepbound enhances Taltz efficacy in psoriasis study](), pharmaphorum ## Sources 1. [AstraZeneca pins bone disease drug’s Phase III failure on high placebo response ](), Clinical Trials Arena, 2026-10-12 2. [Perceive Bio concludes Phase IIa trial enrolment for GA](), Clinical Trials Arena, 2026-10-12 3. [Lilly reports Phase IIIb data on Taltz and Zepbound combination](), Clinical Trials Arena, 2026-10-12 4. [Younger Women and Those with Lower Incomes Face Breast Cancer Care Delays](), Inside Precision Medicine, 2026-10-12 --- TheBench.Bio wrote this from the reporting cited above, with a language model drafting and editing. [1]: [2]: [3]: [4]: