Sage Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SAGE) was a big loser in Thursday’s trading session. The stock dropped by 59.67% to close the day at $60.18. This followed news that its late-stage trial for a depression drug had failed.
The company announced that the phase 3 trial for SAGE-217, its depression treatment, did not perform better than the placebo after 15-days of treatment. From the study, the company also announced that 9% of the patients did not comply fully with drug dosage.
However, it also announced that the treatment still showed some promise. The company management stated that, the treatment was well tolerated. It also noted that adverse events in the 14-day window of treatment, and during the follow-up after 28-days were the same for both the trial treatment and the placebo. The company CEO, Jess Jonas, stated that, the company understands that drug development is an iterative procedure. He added they collected new data on the treatment, which they believe offers insights into SAGE-217 as a drug with the potential for durable effects on people dealing with depression.
Sage Therapeutics is a key player when it comes to treatments for depression and other mental disorders. Earlier in the year, it received an FDA approval for its first product, and has been testing SAGE-217 as a treatment for postpartum depression and major depression. The treatment had shown positive progress in the early stages of the study, but the treatment effects failed at two weeks as the patients did not record any improvement on the common depression test scores.
In yesterday’s trading session, Sage Therapeutics Inc opened with a gap down and closed the day at $60.18. Volumes in the day stood at 17.55 million.
About Sage Therapeutics Inc
Sage Therapeutics Inc is a biopharma company that researches, develops and sells new treatments for the nervous system. The company has its headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
