An experimental drug from Neurocrine Biosciences has failed a mid-stage clinical trial testing it in adults with the most common form of depression.
The study enrolled 73 participants with major depressive disorder who didn’t adequately respond to at least one antidepressant in their current treatment regimens. Neurocrine, without disclosing detailed data, disclosed late Monday that its drug wasn’t significantly better than a placebo at curbing depression symptoms.
Though the trial outcome is disappointing, there are “aspects of the data that warrant further investigation,” according to Sanjay Keswani, the company’s chief medical officer. Keswani said in a statement that his team will continuing analyzing the results to “determine appropriate next steps” for the program.
Neurocrine shares, which had dipped about 1.5% Monday, rebounded to be up about the same amount in after-hours trading.
Neurocrine’s drug, known, in short, as NBI-’770, is meant to inhibit certain brain proteins that researchers believe play a crucial role in depression. It’s one of two experimental treatments for major depression in the company’s pipeline. The other, osavampator, has advanced to late-stage studies as an add-on therapy.
Brian Abrahams, an analyst at the investment firm RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients that Wall Street’s expectations for NBI-’770 were extremely low, given the limited supportive data released thus far and the “higher-risk” way in which the drug is designed to work.
Abrahams added that his team didn’t think the drug would ever become a revenue-generating product, and had instead pegged osavampator as the “more promising” Neurocrine asset targeting major depression. “While we would like to see more emerging out of [Neurocrine’s] pipeline, with our belief that expectations for '770 were near-zero,” any stock sell-off from the trial failure “should be limited,” he wrote.
Neurocrine currently lists in its pipeline a dozen drug programs, with the more advanced aimed at schizophrenia, major depression and a type of palsy. In an earnings report last month, the company disclosed a 28% year-over-year increase in net sales during the third quarter. Its two main products, Ingrezza and Crenessity, combined brought in $785 million — a performance analysts described as “solid” and “strong.”
However, Neurocrine shares fell as much as 9% on the news. Analysts guessed that some commercial obstacles facing Ingrezza and Crenessity could have “spooked” investors.
