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 The hotly anticipated data was expected to allow the company to
widen its reach in the multi-billion dollar depression market it
entered with its first-approved drug, Zulresso, for postpartum
depression.
SVB Leerink analyst Marc Goodman had said in a note ahead of the
trial results that a late-stage trial failure would be a major
disappointment to investors and a setback for the company as it
would be the first "chink in the armor" in the Sage story.
The oral therapy, SAGE-217, did not produce a statistically
significant improvement in patients scored across 17 different
parameters, including anxiety and insomnia, at the 15-day mark
during the trial.
SAGE-217 works by targeting receptors of a neurotransmitter known as
GABA, helping restore the normal balance in the brain.
The company expects to change the treatment paradigm for depression
with SAGE-217, a once-daily night time pill, that is taken for a
course of 14 days, unlike currently available antidepressants that
are required to be taken for months, even years.
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"We think that's really important just to take away the idea that
depression is part of your identity and to treat it like what it is,
which is a brain health disorder that not only ought to be treated,
but to be treated effectively," Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve
Kanes, told Reuters before the data was published.
The drug is also being developed as an oral treatment for postpartum
depression and is expected to be an alternative to Zulresso, a
60-hour continuous intravenous infusion therapy.
Shares of the company fell 56% to $67.25 before the bell.
(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
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