Myriad Genetics planned a glorious coming-out party at the Alzheimer’s Association’s scientific conference this year. The company, best known for genetic tests, has been angling to get into the drug business and was poised to show off the results of one of the biggest, longest trials to date of a drug that aimed to alter the course of Alzheimer’s.

To set the stage, Myriad shelled out $200,000 for a platinum sponsorship at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, making the company a bigger player than Pfizer, Wyeth and Lilly. And Myriad nabbed a big booth near the entrance to the exhibit floor and right between those for Forest Lab’s Namenda and Aricept from Pfizer and Eisai.

There was only one problem. Data released a month before the meeting revealed that Myriad’s drug Flurizan failed to help Azheimer’s patients’ thinking or their ability to complete tasks of daily life.

Researcher Robert Green, who presented details of the failed Flurizan trial Tuesday called his talk ?bittersweet? and showed slide after slide demonstrating virtually no difference between the treatment group and the placebo group. But one doctor in the audience who spoke to the Health Blog after the presentation praised the company for its large, well-done study that had, unfortunately, convincingly showed that the drug didn?t work.

Despite the failure, the Myriad show went on. Six flat-screen TVs in the company’s booth flash ?Myriad.? A banner describing SALA treatment, shorthand for Flurizan’s approach to treating Alzheimer?s, hangs in the booth. The booth was lightly staffed and didn?t attract many visitors while the Health Blog was roaming the floor. The main attraction appears to be posters publicizing an exhibit of self-portraits by artist William Utermohlen, an artist who stuggled with Alzheimer’s. Myriad is sponsoring the retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Adrian Hobden, president of Myriad’s drug unit, told the Health Blog it has been ?kind of painful? to have spent eight years working with the compound and with the Alzheimer?s community and no longer have a drug in development for the disease. “It?s kind of like parting with a friend,” he said. “It seems like a wake, actually.?

“Erased Self Portrait” by William Utermohlen