[Correspondence] Communication: the missing pillar of clinical trial governance

AI Summary

The correspondence discusses the negative phase 3 ASPIRE trial results for apazunersen in Angelman syndrome, which were announced in a press release after market close. It raises clinical-trial communication and governance concerns amid earlier encouraging findings and other ongoing studies.

On Sept 2, 2026, negative results of the phase 3 ASPIRE trial (NCT06617429) of apazunersen in Angelman syndrome were announced in a press release issued after the stock market closed.1 Angelman syndrome is a severe neurodevelopmental condition causing intellectual disability, epilepsy, and behavioural disturbance.2 Expectations had been high, fuelled by encouraging findings from an ongoing open-label phase 1/2 trial of the compound (NCT04259281) and other trials that were still in progress (NCT07157254, NCT06415344).