Sept 12 (Reuters) - Neurocrine Biosciences ( NBIX ) said

on Thursday it will halt the development of its experimental

drug, aimed at improving cognitive function in patients with

schizophrenia, after it did not achieve the primary goal in a

mid-stage trial.

The company said the drug, luvadaxistat, did not replicate

the results from a previous mid-stage trial that showed improved

cognitive performance, due to a large variability in the

cognitive measures across the patients and a potential imbalance

in their baseline characteristics.

In the previous study, luvadaxistat failed to meet the main

goal of change from baseline in negative symptoms of

schizophrenia, however, it met the secondary goal of improving

cognitive performance.

Neurocrine said it will focus its resources on late-stage

development of its other schizophrenia and depression drug

candidates.

Shares of the company were down 2.5% in extended trading.

Last month, the company said its other schizophrenia drug,

NBI-1117568, helped reduce the severity of symptoms in a

mid-stage trial, but there were concerns whether the benefit

could be replicated in larger trials.