Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) announced on Wednesday that it will halt the development of its experimental Parkinson's disease drug, dalzanemdor, following its failure in a mid-stage clinical trial.
The news led to a 30% drop in the company’s stock price in premarket trading on Wednesday. SAGE pared some losses during regular trading hours and was last down 19%.
The company indicated that in the recent study, dalzanemdor did not achieve statistically significant improvement in cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment stemming from Parkinson's, compared to a placebo.
The trial, which included 86 participants, also showed that the drug did not meet its secondary objectives. Nevertheless, it was reported to be safe and well-tolerated.
Despite these results, dalzanemdor is still under investigation for potential treatment of other diseases linked to cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease.
This setback comes after mixed regulatory outcomes for Sage. Last year, the U.S. health regulator approved Zurzuvae, a drug developed in collaboration with Biogen for treating postpartum depression.
However, the same drug was not approved for clinical depression, a significantly larger market.